Commission of Inquiry Report

The Tribunal notes the release of the report of the Commission of Inquiry and the recommendations made with respect to conferral of jurisdictions upon the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Recommendation 9.36

1. The Tasmanian Government should introduce legislation to:
   1. expand the jurisdiction of the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to include review of decisions of the Department for Education, Children and Young People in exercising its custody or guardianship powers— including decisions about where a child should live and arrangements for the child’s care Volume 1: Recommendations 111
   2. ensure children whose cases are subject to review have the right to express their views and participate in Tribunal proceedings
   3. give the Child Advocate the power to apply for a Tribunal review of a decision about the care arrangements for a child on behalf of the child, or on the Child Advocate’s own initiative
   4. grant parties, such as parents or carers, the right to apply for a Tribunal review depending on the nature of the decision.
2. To support their understanding of the experiences of children in out of home care, Tribunal members should be specifically trained in the nature and effects of trauma and child sexual abuse.

Recommendation 17.7

The Tasmanian Government should introduce legislation to amend the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1976 to create a right of review on the merits by the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in relation to a decision of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Commissioners:

1. to refuse financial assistance to a victim-survivor of child sexual abuse
2. about the amount of financial assistance to which a victim-survivor of child sexual abuse is entitled.

Recommendation 17.8

1. The Tasmanian Government should review and reform the operation of the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 to ensure victim-survivors of child sexual abuse in institutional contexts can obtain information relating to that abuse. This review should focus on what needs to change to ensure: a. people’s rights to obtain information are observed in practice b. this access is as simple, efficient, transparent and trauma-informed as possible.
2. The review should consider reforms to the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 to:
   1. include an explicit presumption in favour of disclosure in the Right to Information Act 2009 and Personal Information Protection Act 2004
   2. embed the public interest test in specific exemptions in the Right to Information Act 2009, tailored to those exemptions
   3. streamline the interface between the Right to Information Act 2009 and Personal Information Protection Act 2004 to overcome what has, by default, become a two-step process to obtain personal information
   4. require that a personal information custodian under the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 ‘must provide’ rather than ‘may provide’ personal information upon request from an individual who is the subject of that information, subject to any appropriate exemptions to that requirement Volume 1: Recommendations 166
   5. include a ‘reasonableness’ test in the Right to Information Act 2009 as part of the assessment of whether to withhold personal information relating to a person or third party other than the person making the request for information
   6. strengthen and streamline internal and external review processes in the Right to Information Act 2009 and Personal Information Protection Act 2004, with a focus on options to enforce decisions of the Ombudsman and to apply for review by the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
   7. provide an automatic fee waiver for right to information applications relating to child sexual abuse made under the Right to Information Act 2009 by victim-survivors or a person acting on their behalf.
3. The Tasmanian Government should consider centralising management of access to information processes in a specialist unit or department, supported by access to information liaison officers located in government departments and agencies.
4. The Tasmanian Government should provide funding to government departments, agencies and the Ombudsman, as the case may be, to:
   1. ensure access to information requests are processed within statutory timeframes
   2. speed up external review of right to information decisions
   3. provide trauma-informed training to the Tasmanian State Service in relation to victim-survivor access to information (Recommendation 19.2).

Recommendation 18.13

1. The Tasmanian Government should introduce legislation to amend the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013 and related statutory instruments to replace the Administrative Appeals Division of the Magistrates Court with the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal as the forum for administrative reviews of decisions under the Act.
2. The Tasmanian Government should:
   1. introduce legislation or regulations to require the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to support Tribunal members who hear administrative reviews of decisions under the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013 to have the knowledge, skills, experience and aptitude to deal with each matter, including in relation to child sexual abuse, neglect and family violence
   2. provide sufficient funding to the Tribunal to support members to gain this knowledge, skills, experience and aptitude.

The Tribunal will await the direction of Government with respect to implementation of these reforms (having regard to timeframes and funding) and will ensure timely and active engagement occurs with the Department of Justice as that consultation process is undertaken.