Ms BADGER – I wanted to clarify what we were talking about earlier. The commission of inquiry’s terms of reference covered the institutions, being the department for Education and Tasmanian schools, the Department of Health, the Tasmanian Health Service and the Department of Communities Tasmania, as well as Ashley Youth Detention Centre. In those terms of reference was not Tasmania Police, but obviously they were incidentally part of that and part of the recommendations. When the funding amounts were set for the commission of inquiry implementation, that was done with specific reference to the requirements for implementing the Weiss review. Was this done, and exactly how much of the commission of inquiry funding is being allocated to the Weiss review recommendations that you are currently working towards? I’m happy for you to take it on notice.
Mr ELLIS – As I say, because Tasmania Police is a key investigatory agency in all of those settings, we obviously have a role to play in terms of the commission of inquiry. The commission of inquiry had extensive discussion around the role of police and the importance of ensuring that we continue to keep children safe in our settings. We have eight recommendations. Paul Reynolds was a case study in the commission of inquiry, and in terms of the budget for DPFEM for our part of the commission of inquiry recommendation rollouts, the 2024-25 budget provided $39.603 million to assist DPFEM to implement the recommendations of the findings from the commission’s final report.
Obviously DPFEM is also committed to being a child‑safe and youth‑safe organisation in line with the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act, and all staff are undergoing mandatory training regarding child and youth safe awareness and reportable conduct. We have two $15.1‑million multidisciplinary Arch centres for victim/survivors that are operational in the north and the south, and the government is part of –
Ms BADGER – Perhaps I didn’t phrase the question properly. It’s about the Weiss review recommendations and the funding allocated for that. I know you’ve said earlier that part of the commission of inquiry funding is for the Weiss review recommendations. How much?
Mr ELLIS – No, the broader funding that we’ll be providing over many years – because that’s the thing, this is a task that the government needs to meet over many years –
Ms BADGER – Absolutely, it’s really important. Many Tasmanians and I would like to think that it would be explicitly outlined how much funding is going towards which recommendation, be it commission of inquiry or the Weiss review –
Mr ELLIS – I’m working through those recommendations, Ms Badger.
Ms BADGER – Sorry, they’re for the commission of inquiry. We’re just after the Weiss review.
Mr ELLIS – I thought you said for the commission of inquiry and the Weiss review?
Ms BADGER – We are asking how much. You said earlier, just to clarify, that some of the funding in the current Budget looking at the commission of inquiry recommendations flows on to the Weiss review recommendations. So if that’s the case –
Mr ELLIS – If I could be helpful here, say, for example, we have currently employed an inspector of police. That’s our community engagement inspector. So there’s already money people are already getting paid in being able to deliver some of these recommendations. That’s a key part of recommendation 3, from memory, in terms of our abilities to engage with the community. There are parts of our Budget that broadly go into this already –
Ms BADGER – Great, so could we get a breakdown of that specifically for the Weiss recommendations?
Mr ELLIS – The reason why I can’t give you that exactly is because not all the policy work is done, and some of it is whole‑of‑government –
Ms BADGER – Some of it is done though.
Mr ELLIS – I’m trying to be helpful, Ms Badger, honestly. Some of the policy work in terms of designing a redress scheme sits outside of our portfolio, and it’s complex work. The secretary of DPAC in her evidence today has spoken about the importance of that work in terms getting it right, so that we can understand the quantum of what might need to be provided and the best design for a scheme that can support victim/survivors.
We’re working through that policy work at the moment as a whole of government, and I’m sure you’ll have members in the other committee that will be able to provide a better sense in terms of the current detail that the secretary of DPAC is working through for her recommendations. There’s obviously also the opportunity to scrutinise Justice in regards to the Integrity Commission. I’ll pass over to the commissioner to see if there’s anything further to add on this evidence.
Ms ADAMS – The policy design work has not been completed. We’ve initiated some actions within the community engagement space and, as the minister has said, we’ve appointed an inspector to lead up that unit. In terms of understanding what the command would look like, how we manage the restorative justice process and also our unit to support victim/survivors of police perpetrators, that design work is being undertaken at the moment.
Once we understand the various models and options, we’ll have a conversation with the minister, and then we’ll understand what the Budget implications will be to support those recommendations.
