Before the Commission of Inquiry released its final report, the government set out some actions to keep children safe. These actions were raised during the Commission's findings. We are continuing to work on these interim actions. Some of these interim actions have been combined with the Commission's recommendations that have begun. As a result, some timelines have changed to match the deadlines in the final report. You can see progress on the actions below.
Tasmanian Government's interim response to the Commission of Inquiry
The Government has already acted to implement change and put in place a range of initiatives and actions to improve our systems and services to keep children and young people safer.
These include:
- $7.8 million to address immediate pressures on our Tasmanian Government services and contracted services that will be most impacted as they work to provide support to our community over coming months.
- a further $1.5 million to the Sexual Assault Support Service, Laurel House and Relationships Australia (Tasmania) to ensure continuing access for people to specialist and general therapeutic counselling, crisis support, referral and information services.
- $4.5 million to ensure we have the right frameworks to ensure our State Service culture encourages feedback, reporting, action and review to enable our State Service to respond to child sexual abuse.
- $2.5 million to implement the Commission’s recommendation for a Child Sexual Abuse Strategy and Action Plan.
- $5 million to establish an Arch Centre on the North-West Coast.
- a total of $5 million to implement new human resource administration management systems across our State Service agencies.
- $1 million for the Department of Justice to commence work on the implementation of the Commission of Inquiry legislative agenda
- $10.8 million for the Ashley Youth Detention Centre to ensure that safety and wellbeing of the children in the centre continues to be prioritised and for other support for the Youth Justice system.
- $3.2 for the Department of Health to establish a Child Safety and Wellbeing Framework, Panel and Service to oversee, monitor and investigate child safeguarding concerns;
- $450,000 for engagement activities by the Department of Health to enable Tasmanian children and young people to provide input into policies, delivery of services and decision-making.
- $4.3 million in additional funding for the Child Safety Service and to support for families at risk
- $750,000 for the establishment of the Child Sexual abuse Implementation Monitor
- $850,000 for the centralised coordination of Code of Conduct Complaints
- $1 million for oversight and coordination
- $5.5 million for support other priority actions across Government
We continue to implement and report on a suite of interim actions, determined prior to the release of the Report. These interim actions were in response to issues raised through the Commission of Inquiry hearings. You can see progress on the actions below. Some interim response actions have been subsumed into Commission of Inquiry recommendations; these are highlighted.
Underway
Announce and implement Keeping Children Safer Premier’s Priority.
Underway
Expected delivery: See COI Recommendation 19.1;
- The development of the Child Sexual Abuse Reform Strategy and Action Plan as recommended by the Commission of Inquiry (Recommendation 19.1) will include broad reforms to keep children safe. This interim action will be subsumed into the Government’s response to this recommendation.
- Ongoing engagement and community-led activity is underway and will shape the development of the Strategy and Action Plan for Tasmania.
Underway
Improve the Right to Information process,
including providing training across the State
Service to ensure more consistent responses.
Underway
The Commission’s final report included a number of Right to Information reforms (RTI) and the Department of Premier and Cabinet will work closely with the Department of Justice on this program of reform, including on the delivery of the RTI Uplift Project.
Underway
Explore options to expand the scope of regulated activities under the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People legislation to ensure Tasmania’s worker screening scheme for people who work or volunteer with vulnerable people.
Underway
- The reforms are being progressed through Regulations and a new Order.
- The draft Regulations and Order were made available for public comment on 23 October 2023 and closed on 27 November.
- An implementation schedule for rollout of expansion of regulated activities has been developed. Further strengthening of protections for children will be prioritised in the rollout of the expanded scheme.
Complete
Make arrangements in Heads of Agency Performance Agreements to clarify expectations and improve accountability, making sure child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
Complete
- All Secretaries have actively worked with the Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) to ensure their performance instrument contains clear actions to clarify expectations, improve accountability and make sure child safety and wellbeing is embedded in their organisational leadership, governance and culture, as these elements relate to their Department.
Complete
Investigate rolling out trauma-informed training across the State Service starting with those in leadership positions including Heads of Agency.
Complete
- The Tasmanian State Service (TSS) has partnered with Lifeline Tasmania through the Tasmanian Training Consortium to pilot trauma-informed practice training sessions for TSS leaders.
- Pilot sessions have been held and feedback has been used to develop a series of courses that includes three modules:
- Introduction to Trauma – aimed at a range of State Service Employees
- Trauma Informed Practice - aimed at those involved in Code of Conduct investigations
- the Trauma Informed Organisation - for employees in leadership roles.
- The rollout of the 2023 trauma training program has commenced with the first courses delivered in March 2023. Initially the courses are targeted at TSS leaders and those involved in Employment Direction No. 5 (ED5) investigation processes (see Action 20).
Underway
Encourage and support staff to raise child safety concerns.
Underway
- Aspects of cultural change improvements required in relation to appropriate and consistent reporting and response processes are being considered in light of the Commission of Inquiry recommendations.
- Consideration will be given to a revised timeframe for the completion of this recommendation to align it with the implementation of recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.
Complete
Review the structure and processes across civil litigation to ensure our approach is trauma informed and that all our legal practitioners recognise evidence-based understandings of the nature and impact of child sexual abuse.
Complete
- Review of the structure of civil litigation has been completed and a new structure is being considered.
Underway
Review and rewrite Employment Direction 5.
Underway
- Review of Employment Direction No. 5 (ED5) has commenced in conjunction with a review of other State Service employment directions. The review of ED5 has been prioritised within the broader project.
- Consultation has occurred with Agencies on the ED5. Other stakeholder consultation, including with unions, has commenced.
- The review had an expected delivery date of October 2023; however, further union consultation is planned over the next month, which will result in an expected completion by early 2024.
Underway
Fast track response to the remaining recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Underway
- The status of this action reflects the fact that recommendations remaining are at varying stages of completion across multiple agencies. Some of the recommendations are also duplicated as other actions, such as the Child and Youth Safe Organisation Framework and Department of Justice (DOJ) led legislative amendments.
- The 5th annual progress report as recommended by the Royal Commission was released on 17 December 2022 and confirms the status of all recommendations.
- Governance for monitoring progress against current recommendations is to be considered within the broader Keeping Children Safer governance.
Complete
Develop a Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework including comprehensive legislated standards and the establishment of a Reportable Conduct Scheme.
Complete
- The Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023 commenced on 1 July 2023.
- The Office of the Independent Regulator has been established and further information is available at www.oir.tas.gov.au.
Complete
Appoint a Safeguarding Officer in every Government school.
Complete
- The Safeguarding in Schools model was approved by the Minister for Education, Children and Youth in October 2022 and is funded in the forward estimates. Safeguarding Leads commenced their roles in all State Government Schools at the beginning of Term 1, 2023 and continue to undertake relevant safeguarding and risk assessment training, as well as acting as champions and contacts in relation to all school safeguarding matters.
Underway
Require mandatory professional development for all Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) staff.
Underway
- Initial compulsory training in understanding, preventing and responding to child sexual abuse (including harmful sexual behaviours and grooming) was developed for Principals and Safeguarding Leads in October 2022. Similar compulsory training for all staff was rolled out in February 2024.
- Compulsory mandatory reporting training has also been rolled out to all staff, with an updated version published in February 2024.
- Professional learning is being delivered to all school social workers, nurses and school psychologists, looking at definitions and appropriate responses to sexual harm disclosed and alleged at school or in Child and Family Learning Centres. By the end of November 2023, 220 school social workers, school psychologists and school nurses had completed the training.
- AIM Project Training (UK training group) is being delivered to all school social workers and school psychologists between November 2023 and April 2024. This will assist in developing frameworks of practice to assess students’ harmful sexual behaviours and provide resources to inform risk assessments and safety planning for schools, as well as appropriate referrals to specialist clinicians (SASS and Laurel House).
- Trauma-informed practice professional development, entitled Trauma Informed Practice in Schools, has been established in partnership with the Australian Childhood Foundation and UTAS and undertaken by key staff including the Secretary, Tasmanian Government teachers, teacher assistants, wellbeing leads and principals.
- A range of mandatory professional development is also provided to all staff working in the areas of Children and Families and Youth Justice.
Complete
Employ an additional four full time equivalent senior support staff (two psychologists and two social workers) to increase support for children and young people affected by harmful sexual behaviours or child sexual abuse.
Complete
- All recruitment is complete and the positions are operational from the commencement of Term 3, 2023.
Underway
Employ additional professional support staff, including eight full time equivalent psychologists and eight full time equivalent social workers to further support student wellbeing and safety.
Underway
- A statewide recruitment process for eight professional support staff has been completed. Four social workers and four psychologists are now operating in Tasmanian Government schools.
- This is a multi-year activity and will continue until all positions are filled over the identified period.
Underway
Establish an Out of Home Care Accreditation Framework and an independent statutory body for accrediting and monitoring Out of Home Care Services, and develop a Carers' Register.
Underway
Expected delivery: See COI Recommendation 9.20;
- The Tasmanian Out of Home Care Standards and an accompanying self-assessment tool were released in August 2022. The Standards are an important first step in developing an Accreditation Framework for Out of Home Care.
- Project planning and planning for sector engagement have commenced for the Out of Home Care Accreditation Framework and the Carers’ Register. Planning will incorporate the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.
- A review of the Children, Young People and their Families Act 1997 is underway, in relation to the legislative change required to establish an Accreditation Framework and a Carers’ Register.
- Once finalised, the Accreditation Framework will be a formal system of regulation, helping providers to meet and maintain prescribed standards of care.
- A Carers’ Register will provide further safeguards for children and young people in Out of Home Care, helping to ensure carers and families are the right people with the right skills to care for those children.
Complete
Draft legislation to create a new crime of ‘failing to protect a child or young person’ for people in authority within an organisation who fail to safeguard a child from substantial risk of sexual abuse by an adult associated with that organisation.
Complete
- The Justice Miscellaneous (Royal Commission Amendments) Bill 2022 received Royal Assent on 20 April 2023.
Complete
Amend the Criminal Code to introduce a new crime of 'penetrative sexual abuse of a child [or young person] by a person in authority', including a presumption that children under the age of 18 cannot consent to sexual intercourse when a person is in a position of authority over them.
Complete
- The Justice Miscellaneous (Royal Commission Amendments) Bill 2022 received Royal Assent on 20 April 2023.
Underway
Consider legislative solutions and other initiatives that will make it easier to share information about risks to children, including looking at whether issues of custom, practice and culture are creating unnecessary barriers.
Underway
Expected delivery: See COI Recommendation 19.8;
- The Commission made a range of recommendations regarding information sharing, including Recommendation 19.8. This interim response action will be subsumed into these recommendations.
- Information sharing guidelines will be developed after existing policies and processes are reviewed, and custom, practice and culture barriers considered. The review will inform work between the Tasmanian Government, government-funded services and statutory bodies to develop child safety information sharing, coordination and response guidelines, which will include communications and training, and broader reforms as identified.
Underway
Develop clear information regarding the circumstances where Agencies can and should share information about the status of investigations and/or investigative material.
Underway
- The Commission’s final report included a number of reforms in relation to the sharing of information, and the report is being reviewed for relevant recommendations that will further inform work on this interim action.
Complete
Make trauma-informed practice professional learning mandatory for investigators and other state servants involved in ED5 investigation processes.
Complete
- The State Service Management Office (SSMO) has consulted with Agencies on the outcomes of the pilot training, current practice and recommendations for next steps under Action 5.
- The roll-out of trauma-informed training has commenced with the first courses run in March 2023 and targeted at those Agency staff involved in Employment Direction 5 (ED5) investigations.
- SSMO is currently working with the Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP), which is leading a whole-of-government procurement process for a panel of external investigators, who must have undertaken trauma-informed training. Expressions of interest for the panel have been advertised and submissions are in the evaluation stage.
- Building on the existing training, additional professional development for specific cohorts of employees is being scoped to address emerging needs.
Complete
Create a shared capability for the investigation of serious Code of Conduct breaches. Ensure the pool has a gender balance.
Complete
- A Project Manager commenced in September 2022.
- A paper was endorsed by the Secretaries' Board that supported a centralised model for the investigation of serious Code of Conduct breaches and it was agreed that any implementation would involve a transition period.
- Consultations commenced with stakeholders early August 2023.
- Consultation with agencies and unions on the transition model for creating shared capability has been completed.
- The Commission’s final report is being reviewed for relevant recommendations that further inform the establishment of the shared capability unit.
- Recruitment is currently underway to support the central investigation unit and the support to agencies around capability building on Code of Conduct matters.
Complete
Establish a central register of employees who have been terminated as a result of an ED5 investigation.
Complete
- The Register was developed and made available to Agencies on 8 July 2022.
- A Policy to support the use of the Register has been provided to Agencies.
- Further refinements continue to be made to the process and supporting information to guide the implementation of the policy and process.
Complete
Draft a formal apology on behalf of the parliament.
Complete
- The apology was made in the House of Assembly on Tuesday 8 November 2022.
- Attendees were supported to view the apology live and via livestream at multiple viewing areas in Parliament House, on Parliament Lawns and at the Hobart Function and Conference Centre. The Parliament House livestream link was also made available via the Department of Premier and Cabinet's (DPAC's) Apology webpage for people to view the apology in real time at other locations.
- The apology was recorded by Parliament House for the webcast archives and Hansard. A recording is also available via DPAC’s Apology webpage and Youtube channel, and includes content warning and captions.
Complete
Provide information to all state servants on special two-day Commission of Inquiry leave.
Complete
- The Head of the State Service wrote to all staff on Thursday 26 May 2022 giving further information on how staff can attend the Commission of Inquiry during work time without loss of pay.
Complete
Establish a Whole-of-Government Commission of Inquiry Response Unit.
Complete
- A dedicated whole-of-government Children and Young People Reform Unit has been established in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, working closely with key agencies. The unit provides policy support and a targeted focus to lead and coordinate the implementation and monitoring of strategic outcomes and key actions for child and youth safety and wellbeing. This includes the Tasmanian Government’s response to, and implementation of, the Commission’s recommendations.
Complete
Undertake a Child Safe Governance Review of the Launceston General Hospital and its Human Resources department informed by an advisory panel consisting of independent experts in child trauma, governance and hospital administration and human resources.
Complete
Child Safe Governance Review
- The Child Safe Governance Review - Governance Advisory Panel undertook an extensive, forensic review of child safety and governance, with a specific focus on the handling of serious misconduct such as child sexual abuse.
- In December 2022, the Panel handed down its final report and all 92 recommendations have been accepted in full.
- Immediate action was taken to begin implementing the recommendations. Particular progress was made early on in the areas of structural changes of the executive to reset culture, leadership accountability, as well as the introduction of child safety training and frameworks for reporting child safety concerns.
- The Review’s Co-Chairs, Associate Prof Debora Picone and Associate Prof Karen Crawshaw have been acting in an advisory role to ensure independent oversight of the implementation of the recommendations. Professors Picone and Crawshaw have been meeting with Working Group Chairs, relevant Executive, staff, unions and others to assess progress to date and provided reports back to the Secretary.
- As at the end of 2023, the majority of the recommendations have been completed and strong progress has been made across the remaining few recommendations.
- For specific details on the recommendations of the report, refer to the Department of Health website.
Launceston General Hospital (LGH) Community Recovery Initiative
- On 12 December 2022, the Department of Health (DoH) released the final report of the Launceston General Hospital Community Recovery Initiative.
- This initiative recognised there was an urgent need to proactively rebuild the community’s trust in the LGH to ensure the community had confidence in using the public hospital.
- The aim was to learn from the community, restore community confidence, and build community capacity.
- DoH held forums to hear directly from the community, with those who attended passionate and committed to wanting to see positive change at the LGH.
- The recurring themes centred around: a clear change in leadership at the LGH, a transparent change in culture at the LGH, and a focus on trauma-informed and safeguarding protocols for staff and management.
- The Co-Chairs of the Community Recovery Initiative were Elizabeth Daly and Malcolm White, and their recommendations have been accepted.
- These recommendations have been incorporated into an implementation plan alongside the recommendations of the Child Safe Governance Review and have all been completed.
Any remaining actions of the Child Safe Governance Review will be implemented alongside the Department’s Commission of Inquiry Recommendations.
Complete
Establish a central complaints office to handle all future complaints about misconduct – including claims of child sexual abuse.
Complete
- The Department of Health (DoH) has established a Statewide Complaints Management Oversight unit, in the Office of the Secretary.
- A new Statewide Complaints Management Framework has also been approved. The Framework establishes a standard and consistent approach to complaint handling across the Department of Health to support the timely, efficient and fair management of complaints, as well as supporting effective governance and oversight for managing concerns and complaints across the department.
- An online form for Reporting Concerns of Inappropriate Behaviour was developed and implemented for use by staff and the public via the DoH website. Receipt of the form and triage is managed by the Statewide Complaints Oversight Unit.
- A Memorandum of Understanding was established between the Department of Health (including the Tasmanian Health Service (THS)) and Tasmania Police on preventing and responding to child sexual abuse in Department of Health settings.
Complete
Establish two pilot multidisciplinary centres, one in the north and one in the south.
Complete
- Two Arch centres are now open and operational with a facility in Launceston and Hobart.
- A formal opening event took place at the Launceston Arch on 19 August 2023 with the Minister and representation from across government and service providers as well as victim-survivors.
- Collaborative induction training is nearly complete for all staff working at the Arch centres.
- Independent consultant, ANROWS, has drafted a Review and Evaluation Framework to enable assessment of the pilot in alignment with the Strategic Plan.
- The Project Team has published its final public newsletter. The Arch website is now live and the public can directly access information regarding the centres.
- Stakeholder and community engagement are continuing pieces of work for the Project Team that will transition to the Arch leadership for the duration of the pilot.
- Program co-design is being undertaken in consultation with key stakeholders with a focus on victim-survivor experience.
Underway
Youth Justice Reform.
Underway
- The Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) publicly released the final Youth Justice Blueprint 2024-2034 in December 2023.
- The Government announced three potential sites for the new detention centre. Public consultation closed on 4 May 2023.
- Outcomes from the consultation have been considered and 466 Brighton Road, Pontville, has been announced as the preferred site, subject to further site assessments. Aboriginal Heritage, natural values and infrastructure assessments are now underway. Targeted engagement with key stakeholders has also commenced.
- The Request for Tender for a consultant to assist in the delivery of a Model of Care for the Youth Justice system closed. KPMG was selected and a project plan has been developed.
- The First Action Plan, which will detail the first phase of youth justice reform, will be released in 2024.
Complete
Develop a website to publicly report progress on implementation of the interim response actions and expected delivery dates.
Complete
- The Keeping Children Safe website provides centralised information on actions the Government is taking to keep children safe in Tasmania. Once developed, this will include reporting against the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations.