Appendix A: Order establishing the Commission of Inquiry

Appendix B: Terms of reference

Appendix C: Commission of Inquiry staff list

Commissioners

The Honourable Marcia Neave AO

Professor Leah Bromfield

The Honourable Robert Benjamin AM SC

Commission of Inquiry staff

Sarah Burne

Peta Carlyon

Sarah Darcey

Janet Dawson

Allan de Weys

Rachael Garrett

Anita George

Stephanie Glade-Wright

Dr Zoë Gill

Sarah Henderson

Tilda Hum

Anna Kay

Claire Leyden-Duval

Jill Murphy

Bruce Newey

Dana Rechtman

Cameron Rodger

Joanna Rolfe

Clair Shepherd

Andrew Smart

Bradley Wagg

Counsel Assisting

Elizabeth Bennett SC

Rachel Ellyard

Maree Norton

Alexandra Darcey

Georgina Rhodes

Legal Team

Suchira Chauhan

Betty Choi

Natalie Cooper

James D’Alessandro

Michelle Dean

Laura Deschamps Ferrari

Meagan Dujela

Amanda Dunn

Caitlyn Georgeson

Jared Heath

Bronte Howlett

Jesse Jin

Jessica Kiff

Harry Kim

Marin Kraljevic

Nicholas Laurie

Jarrod Mitchell

Philippa Munton

Mairead O’Connor

Emanuela Radulescu

Heidi Roberts

Fiona Ryan

Emily Steiner

Elena Stojcevski

Elly Sturgeon

Sophie Uhlhorn

Deborah White

Shana Webster

Ying Wong

Contractors, individuals and organisations providing assistance to our Commission of Inquiry

Donna Abela

Bruce Alston

Travis Atkins

Rowena Austin

Kathryn Bloom

Sarah Campbell

David Cocker

Matt Davies

Dr Simone Deegan

Rebecca Grant

Sam Horsfield

Fiona Hughes

Andrew Macrae

Tracey Matters

Emeritus Professor Morag McArthur

Associate Professor Timothy Moore

Sandra Muller

Keren Murray

Rebecca Nguyen

Renata Pasieczny

Mary Polis

Natalie Price

Professor Jeremy Prichard

Matthew Sidebotham

Caroline Spotswood

Catherine Tobin

Kate Turner

Olivia Wells

Katya Zissermann

Australian Centre for Child Protection

Converge International

Department of Justice

icourts

MSS Security

Riawunna Centre for Aboriginal Education

Sexual Assault Support Service

Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal

Tasmania Legal Aid

Tasmania Prison Service

WOO Agency

Appendix D: Tasmanian Government’s Keeping Children Safer Interim Response to the Commission of Inquiry (actions)

1. Announce and implement Keeping Children Safer Premier’s Priority.
2. Improve the Right to Information process, including providing training across the State Service to ensure more consistent responses.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Investigate rolling out trauma-informed training across the State Service starting with those in leadership positions including Heads of Agency.
6. Encourage and support staff to raise child safety concerns.
7. 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.
8. Review and rewrite Employment Direction 5.
9. Fast track response to the remaining recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
10. Develop a Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework including comprehensive legislated standards and the establishment of a Reportable Conduct Scheme.
11. Appoint a Safeguarding Officer in every Government school.
12. Require mandatory professional development for all Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) staff.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. Develop clear information regarding the circumstances where Agencies can and should share information about the status of investigations and/or investigative material.
20. Make trauma informed practice professional learning mandatory for investigators and other state servants involved in ED5 investigation processes.
21. Create a shared capability for the investigation of serious Code of Conduct breaches. Ensure the pool has a gender balance.
22. Establish a central register of employees who have been terminated as a result of an ED5 investigation.
23. Draft a formal apology on behalf of the parliament.
24. Provide information to all state servants on special two-day Commission of Inquiry leave.
25. Establish a Whole-of-Government Commission of Inquiry Response Unit.
26. 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.
27. Establish a central complaints office to handle all future complaints about misconduct—including claims of child sexual abuse.
28. Establish two pilot multidisciplinary centres, one in the north and one in the south. Youth Justice Reform.
29. Develop a website to publicly report progress on implementation of the interim response actions and expected delivery dates.

Reproduced from: Department of Premier and Cabinet, Tasmanian Government’s Interim Response to the Commission of Inquiry (Report, 31 July 2023) <https://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/310576/Commission-of-Inquiry-Interim-Response-Report-as-at-31-July-2023.pdf>.

Appendix E: South Australian Guideline (May 2023)

Appendix F: Information on the Teachers Register that can be made publicly available under the Teachers Registration Act 2000

Appendix G: Out of home care—Organisational structure of the Department for Education, Children and Young People (30 April 2023)

Appendix H: Methodology used for the calculation of disciplinary process numbers referred to in our report

1. Source data

During our Commission of Inquiry, the State provided us with nine Excel spreadsheet Employment Direction trackers labelled ‘ED trackers’.1 These ED trackers contain department-specific information on disciplinary processes conducted in response to allegations of child sexual abuse and related conduct. We used the latest versions of the ED trackers from the three child-facing agencies—Department of Communities, Department of Education and Department of Health—to calculate numbers in relation to the following:

• Suspensions (both since January 2000 and the announcement of our Inquiry in November 2020)
• Preliminary assessments
• Employment Direction No. 4—Suspension (defined by the State as a subset of the overall number of suspensions)
• Employment Direction No. 5—Breach of Code of Conduct
• Employment Direction No. 6—Inability.2

The ED trackers all included the same information:

• Relevant Agency (Column A)
• Agency’s internal reference (Column B)
• Name of alleged perpetrator (Columns C and D)
• Output of Agency (Column E)
• Name of complainant(s) (victim-survivor) (Column F)
• Source of complaint (Column G)
• Date Agency received complaint (Column H)
• Date alleged conduct occurred (Column I)
• Preliminary assessment undertaken (Y/N) (Column J)
• Date of preliminary assessment (Column K)
• Date recommendation of ED4, ED5 or ED6 to Head of Agency (Column L)
• Type of ED—ED4, ED5 or ED6 (Column M)
• Date stood down (Column N)
• Position title (Column O)
• Primary location of employment at time of stand down (Column P)
• Describe process of standing down (Column Q)
• Provide reasons for stand down (Column R)
• Provide terms of stand down (Column S)
• Describe allegation(s) against employee (Column T)
• Action taken or outcomes after stand down (Column U)
• Date of action taken or outcome (Column V)
• Associated actions (for example, referral to Tasmania Police or the Registrar of the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Scheme) (Column W)
• Date of associated action (Column X)
• Investigator (Column Y)
• Status (finalised, ongoing) (Column Z).

There were, at times, discrepancies between the data provided to us by the Tasmanian Government through the ED trackers and the numbers provided by Secretaries of the Departments in their evidence and statements, or differences in the methodology adopted to calculate figures.3 We have highlighted these discrepancies throughout our report as relevant.

1. Suspension numbers from January 2000 to February 2023

We applied the following methodology to determine the number of suspensions that occurred from the period January 2000 to February 2023 by respective department.

1. Department of Communities

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Communities.4 Column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide terms of stand down’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’, ‘CD8’ (which was the predecessor to ED4) or ‘ED4’, and to exclude all blank cells and cells containing the terms ‘NA’, ‘N/A’ or ‘alternative duties’ as it was unclear whether those entries recorded a suspension.

The number obtained was 23.

To obtain the number of suspensions specifically relevant to out of home care, column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide Terms of Stand Down’) was filtered to include all cells with references to the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’, ‘CD8’ or ‘ED4’. Blank cells and cells containing the terms ‘NA’, ‘N/A’ or ‘alternative duties’ were excluded as it was unclear whether those cells recorded a suspension. Then column ‘E’ (labelled ‘Output of Agency’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘Child Protection’, ‘Child Safety Services’ or ‘Rostered Carer and Support Worker’, and to exclude all cells referencing the term ‘AYDC’.

The number obtained was 4.

1. Department of Education

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Education.5 Column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide Terms of Stand Down’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’, ‘CD8’, ‘ED4’ or ‘remain away from workplace’, and to exclude all blank cells and cells containing the terms ‘N/A’, ‘NA’, ‘RWVP registration suspended’ or ‘advised of substance allegation, asked to immediately leave workplace’ as it was unclear whether those entries recorded a suspension.

The number obtained was 43.

1. Department of Health

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Health.6 Column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide Terms of Stand Down’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’ or ‘ED4’, and to exclude all blank cells, cells containing the term ‘N/A’, ‘NA’ and cells where there was no mention of suspension or ED4 as it was unclear whether those entries recorded a suspension.

The number obtained was 26.

Refer to Figure H.1 for a graphical representation of these numbers.

1. Suspension numbers from November 2020 to February 2023

We applied the following methodology to determine the number of suspensions that occurred from the period November 2020 (the date of the announcement of our Inquiry) to February 2023 by respective department.

1. Department of Communities

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Communities.7 Column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide Terms of Stand Down’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’, ‘CD8’ (which was the predecessor to ED4) or ‘ED4’, and to exclude all blank cells and cells containing the terms ‘N/A’ ‘NA’ or ‘alternative duties’ as it was unclear whether those entries recorded a suspension. Then column ‘N’ (labelled ‘Date Stood Down’) was filtered and all dates from November 2020 onwards were selected.

The number obtained was 10.

1. Department of Education

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Education.8 Column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide Terms of Stand Down’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’, ‘CD8’, ‘ED4’ or ‘remain away from workplace’, and to exclude blank cells and cells containing the terms ‘N/A’, ‘NA’, ‘RWVP registration suspended’ or ‘advised of substance allegation, asked to immediately leave workplace’ as it was unclear whether those entries recorded a suspension. Then column ‘N’ (labelled ‘Date Stood Down’) was filtered and all dates from November 2020 onwards were selected.

The number obtained was 20.

1. Department of Health

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Health.9 Column ‘S’ (labelled ‘Provide Terms of Stand Down’) was filtered to include all cells referencing the terms ‘suspended’, ‘suspension’ or ‘ED4’, and to exclude blank cells, cells containing the term ‘N/A’, ‘NA’ and cells where there was no mention of suspension or ED4 as it was unclear whether those entries recorded a suspension. Then column ‘N’ (labelled ‘Date Stood Down’) was filtered and all dates from November 2020 onwards were selected. The entry ‘05/05/2021 Note employee was already stood down for separate matter (not child related)’ was included.

The number obtained was 8.

Refer to Figure H.1 for a graphical representation of these numbers.

Figure H.1: Suspensions by department for the period January 2000 to February 2023 and for the period November 2020 to February 202310

Source: Tasmanian Government, ED trackers supplied by the Tasmanian Government in response to Commission notices to produce, 2023.

1. Preliminary assessment numbers

We applied the following methodology to determine the number of preliminary assessments from the period January 2000 to February 2023 by respective department.

1. Department of Communities

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Communities.11 Column ‘J’ (labelled ‘Preliminary assessment undertaken (Y/N)’) was filtered to include ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘unknown’ and blank cells were excluded.

The number obtained was 24.

1. Department of Education

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Education.12 Column ‘J’ (labelled ‘Preliminary assessment undertaken (Y/N)’) was filtered to include ‘Y’ and ‘Yes’. Blank cells, ‘NA’ and ‘N’ were excluded.

The number obtained was 48.

1. Department of Health

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Health.13 Column ‘J’ (labelled ‘Preliminary assessment undertaken (Y/N)’) was filtered to include anything with ‘Y’, ‘No’, ‘Pending’ and blank cells were excluded.

The number obtained was 9.

Figure H.2 provides a graphical representation of these numbers.

Figure H.2: Preliminary assessment numbers by department from January 2000 to February 202314

Source: Tasmanian Government, ED trackers supplied by the Tasmanian Government in response to Commission notices to produce, 2023.

1. Employment Direction No. 4—Suspension numbers

We applied the following methodology to determine the number of Employment Direction No. 4—Suspension that were conducted from the period January 2000 to February 2023 by respective department.

1. Department of Communities

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Communities.15 Column M (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED4’ and ‘CD8’. The terms ‘N/A’ and ‘referral for ED4/ED5’, ‘suspended with pay’ without a reference to ED4 or CD8, and blank cells, were excluded.

The number obtained was 19.

1. Department of Education

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Education.16 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED4 suspension’, ‘ED4’, ‘ED4/ED5’, ‘ED4, ED5’, ‘ED4 & ED5’, ‘ED4 and ED5’, ‘ED5 & ED4’, ‘ED5 and ED4’, ‘ED5, ED4’, ‘ED5/ED4’. The terms ‘NA’ and ‘referral for ED4/ED5’, and blank cells, were excluded.

The number obtained was 38.

1. Department of Health  

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Health.17 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6)’ was filtered to include ‘ED4 suspension’ or ‘ED4’ and ‘ED4 suspension – pending ED5/5 investigation (not commenced)’. The terms ‘N/A’, ‘Pending’, ‘Stood down (not suspended)’ and ‘ED4 not applied’, and blank cells, were excluded.

The number obtained was 26.

Figure H.3 provides a graphical representation of these numbers.

Figure H.3: Employment Direction No. 4—Suspension numbers by department from January 2000 to February 202318

Source: Tasmanian Government, ED trackers supplied by the Tasmanian Government in response to Commission notices to produce, 2023.

1. Employment Direction No. 5—Breach of Code of Conduct numbers

We applied the following methodology to determine the number of Employment Direction No. 5—Breach of Code of Conduct that were conducted from the period January 2000 to February 2023 by respective department.

1. Department of Communities

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Communities.19 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED5’, ‘ED6’, ‘ED5 investigation’ and ‘CD5 investigation’. The term ‘No CD5 process’, and blank cells, were excluded.

The number obtained was 26.

1. Department of Education

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Education.20 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘Commissioners Direction No. 5’, ‘Commissioner’s Declaration No. 5’ , ‘ED5’, ‘CD5’, ‘ED4/ED5’, ‘ED4, ED5’, ‘ED4 & ED5’, ‘ED4 and ED5’, ‘ED5 & ED4’, ‘ED5 and ED4’, ‘ED5, ED4’, ‘ED5/ED4’. The terms ‘Referral for ED5’ and ‘NA’, and blank cells, were excluded.

The number obtained was 50.

1. Department of Health

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Health.21 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED5’ and ‘ED5 investigation’. The terms ‘pending ED5’, ‘ED5/6 pending’, ‘N/A’, ‘Pending’ and ‘Stood down’ were excluded.

The number obtained was 7.

Figure H.4 provides a graphical representation of these numbers.

Figure H.4: Employment Direction No. 5—Breach of Code of Conduct numbers by department from January 2000 to February 202322

Source: Tasmanian Government, ED trackers supplied by the Tasmanian Government in response to Commission notices to produce, 2023.

1. Employment Direction No.6—Inability numbers

We applied the following methodology to determine the number of Employment Direction No. 6—Inability that were conducted from the period January 2000 to February 2023 by respective department.

1. Department of Communities

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Communities.23 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED6’.

The number obtained was 0.

1. Department of Education

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Education.24 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED6’.

The number obtained was 1.

1. Department of Health  

Analysis was conducted on the most recently provided version of the ED tracker for the Department of Health.25 Column ‘M’ (labelled ‘Type of ED – ED4, ED5 or ED6’) was filtered to include ‘ED6’. The term ‘ED5/6 pending (not commenced)’ was excluded.

The number obtained was 0.

Figure H.5 provides a graphical representation of these numbers.

Figure H.5: Employment Direction No. 6—Inability numbers by department from January 2000 to February 202326

Source: Tasmanian Government, ED trackers supplied by the Tasmanian Government in response to Commission notices to produce, 2023.