Tasmania has seen a 50 per cent jump in the number of people reporting sexual assault, the largest percentage increase in the country.
There were 470 victims of sexual assault recorded by police in Tasmania in 2021, an increase of 163 people — or 53 per cent — from 2020, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
That compares with a national increase of 13 per cent.
About 86 per cent of Tasmanians reporting a sexual assault were females, and about 60 per cent were under the age of 18 at the time of the incident.
The statistics show the majority (88 per cent) of victim-survivors knew the offender and 72 per cent of sexual assaults occurred in a residential location.
And 39 per cent of sexual assaults recorded in 2021 were family or domestic violence-related, about the same rate as nationally (37 per cent).
Chief executive of the Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS) Jill Maxwell said the statistics reflected what support services were seeing.
"Ten years ago we were averaging 33 referrals a month to our service, and as of June 30 this year, we were averaging 95 a month," she said.
"What we've seen through our statistics is they align with things that have been happening internationally and nationally over the years, for instance, the Me Too movement … what happened in national parliament, Grace Tame, the royal commission and now the commission of inquiry."
Ms Maxwell said the community was more informed about consent and people were talking more now about sexual assault than in the past.
She said a lot of sexual assaults were happening within a home, in an intimate relationship.
"There is a lot of education that needs to be done within Tasmania around those myths of who is a victim of sexual assault and how can it happen," Ms Maxwell said.
"And quite often it takes months, and sometimes years for women to understand what's happened to them by someone who's supposed to love them."
Detective Inspector Kate Chambers said she believed the increase in reports reflected a growing community appetite to address the issue of sexual assault.
"I think it's really important that victim-survivors feel empowered in their journey and I think that we are constantly improving the way we respond to sexual violence, but also I think these figures reflect a willingness by victims to come forward and be heard."
She said police were working closely with support services to address the broader community issue of sexual violence.
"I think we're creating an environment where there's a conversation, we're creating an environment where people are willing to hold others to account."
