Question - Offender Statistics - Caseloads for Staff

Wednesday 24 June 2026

Offender Statistics - Caseloads for Staff Ms ARMITAGE question to LEADER for the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Ms RATTRAY

[2.57 p.m.] During Estimates, I was advised that within Community Corrections in Tasmania there are 18.8 offenders per operational staff member. Could the honourable Leader please advise:

(1) What's the average caseload specifically for probation officers in Tasmania (excluding other categories of staff)?

(2) How was the figure of 18.8 offenders per operational staff member calculated? In particular, does this represent an average across all operational staff and all individuals supervised within Community Corrections?

(3) Does the figure of 18.8 include operational staff who do not typically manage individual caseloads?

(4) If the answer to question (3) is yes, can a revised figure be provided that reflects the average number of offenders per operational staff member whose duties include managing Community Corrections caseloads?

ANSWER

I acknowledge the honourable member's question.

(1) Community Corrections officers' operational caseloads vary markedly between operational units, reflecting the degree of intervention required to manage different orders and community risks. High-risk and complex cases are allocated to more-experienced staff, and less-experienced staff are allocated the less complex cases. Outside of court-mandated diversion teams, there is no specified maximum caseload for individual probation officers.

Caseloads are closely monitored by senior management and remedial action is taken where individual workloads are judged to be too high. In the court-mandated diversion teams, caseloads are capped at 10 to support the high-intensity case management required for the program. Supervision teams are responsible for managing community correction orders, parole orders, home detention orders, mental health treatment orders and high-risk offender orders. Community Corrections seeks to ensure average caseloads are below 45 offenders per FTE. With community service, case management is less intensive and, as a result, caseloads are generally higher than in other units.

I do have a table of average caseloads per team FTE across Tasmania as at 31 March 2026. Statewide:

• court mandated diversion: 7.3

• supervision: 32.4

• community service: 85.8.

(2) The data is drawn from the Report on Government Services 2026, produced by the Productivity Commission. That figure represents a comparison of all offenders supervised by Community Corrections as an average daily number and all operational staff as an average daily full-time equivalent position.

The Productivity Commission provides a broad framework to help each jurisdiction define 'operational staff' compared to 'non-operational staff'.

The main responsibility of operational staff involves the supervision or provision of support services directly to offenders in community corrections and these include:

• probation/parole/community corrections officers • unit/team leaders, senior community corrections officers

• home detention officers (excluding HD officers based at head office)

• specialist community corrections officers (e.g. drug courts, domestic violence courts)

• case managers/community corrections assistants/community support officers

• community development officers

• community service orders supervisors/field supervisors

• court advice workers

• program coordinators

• psychologists/social workers, and other community corrections staff who provide psychological/therapeutic services.

Non-operational staff are those not included in this definition. Each jurisdiction is required to apply this broad framework to determine which positions are operational staff to make this calculation. According to the Report on Government Services 2026, in the 2024-25 financial year, Community Corrections had an average of 18.8 offenders per operational staff member.

This compared to the Australian national average of 18.6 offenders per staff member. Again, another table: the offender-to-operational staff in Community Corrections unit ratio is Tasmania 18.8, Australia 18.6. Offender to other staff, the Tasmanian ratio is 108.3 to Australia 87.8, and the offender-to-total-staff is 16 in Tasmania and the Australian ratio is 15.4.

(3) Yes. There are a number of roles in Community Corrections in Tasmania that meet the Productivity Commission's definition of 'operational staff' who would not regularly directly manage a caseload of offenders subject to community-based orders. In Community Corrections, probation officers typically maintain responsibility for the direct supervision of offenders and management of orders. Certain operational staff, like unit managers, who directly supervise a team including probation officers or casework support officers, who provide administrative support to probation officers, would not typically directly manage offenders.

Other operational staff, like community service supervisors and senior clinicians and educators, have regular engagement with offenders and provide a level of supervision and management but would not be considered caseload managers. If these positions did not exist, however, the tasks associated with their roles would fall directly to probation officers to undertake.

(4) The response to question (1) notes average caseloads across Community Corrections' work streams, where the officer's primary duties involve case management and offenders on caseload.