Assaults on Emergency Service Workers

One of the inaugural referrals to the Sentencing Advisory Council (the Council) from the AttorneyGeneral was a request to provide advice in relation to assaults on emergency service workers in Tasmania. The request for this advice was prompted by ongoing calls for mandatory terms of imprisonment for offenders who assault emergency service workers. The calls relate to a perceived increase in the incidence and severity of assaults on emergency service workers and a perceived leniency in the sentences imposed on those who commit the assaults.