Recognition of Visitors
Mr PRESIDENT – On your way to the lectern, I’d just like to welcome Jocelyn’s family to the Legislative Council today. Thank you for attending.
[12.05 p.m.]
Ms O’CONNOR (Hobart) – Mr President, in beginning my contribution today, I acknowledge the presence in the council Chamber of the parent of Jocelyn Daguman, Sonia van den Heuvel, and note the hard work of Sonia’s partner, Julius Daguman, to have reform of quad bikes and ATVs in Tasmania. I acknowledge the terrible grief and the suffering of the Daguman family every single day since Regatta Day 2023. That is the day that their beautiful daughter, Jocelyn, 14 years old, beloved, precious, bright and full of promise, died as a result of an ATV vehicle accident at Boyer. Up front, I apologise in advance for anything that I say today that might re traumatise you, Sonia. I’m sorry to do that, but I will be reading out parts of the coroner’s report.
Since they lost their beautiful daughter, Jocelyn, the Daguman family through their grief, have advocated relentlessly for reform. They’ve lobbied members of parliament and ministers. They put forward a petition, which I was very proud to sponsor last year, which called for stronger regulation of quad bikes and ATVs in Tasmania in line with the recommendations of now, it is – the sequential coroner’s reports. The petition was tabled on the 13 November last year and we were informed in a briefing with officers from the Department of State Growth – quite recently – that a government response to the petition is forthcoming. Mr President, we need the Government to take this matter extremely seriously. In part, we are here today because of the advocacy and the strength through grief of Julius and Sonia, but we are also here because on average, one person dies every year as a result of quad bike or ATV use in Tasmania. It’s really important that we tell those human stories.
On regatta day of 2023, somebody who was known to the Daguman family took Jocelyn, without her parent’s consent, to a property in Boyer and she was taken there with a friend. Fourteen years old. It was a public holiday. Her parents did not know where she was. She is described by her mum, Sonia, as ‘a beautiful girl, very popular at school, above A standard. Her dream was to finish school and to work with animals. I’ve been having lots of nightmares about Jocelyn, calling for her to come home and just to be with us, to hold her in my arms.’
Jocelyn’s dad said people needed to be aware of the dangers of not wearing seatbelts or helmets on ATV’s. He committed to campaigning house to house and with friends to get support for reform. He said ‘Young people are happy to ride anything and are not aware of the dangers, but these are more dangerous than a scooter because of the farm environment. I am dreaming every night about Jocelyn. It is terrible, it is very sad.’
Every year in Australia around 1400 people are seriously injured in quad bike accidents. There are many families who have suffered grief in a similar way to the Daguman family. Just this year, and we’re only in March, there’ve been 3 deaths.
On 3 January this year, a 16-year-old girl from interstate and a 38-year-old Roseberry man, who were both on an all-terrain vehicle, died after a collision with a ute on the Murchison Highway on Tasmania’s West Coast. Police are investigating the cause of the crash and a report will be prepared for the coroner. Another report to be prepared on this matter by the coroner, Mr President.
On 7 January this year, a 20-year-old man died on a forestry road in Tasmania’s north with people believing his quad bike crashed after hitting a tree stump. Police said it was the third serious crash involving off road vehicles in recent weeks. The police Acting Inspector Parker said at the time ‘We urge all riders to take extra care, wear helmets and protective gear, stick to safe speeds and avoid risky terrain’. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
On 18 October 2023, some eight months after Jocelyn died at Boyer, a youngster, referred to by the coroner as AL, left home at about 4.00 p.m.. He was 16 years old and he was riding his father’s red Honda TRX 250 quad bike. He didn’t have a licence other than L novice motor vehicle 1, and the quad bike was not registered to be used on the road. Coroner Simon Cooper, again, released findings that said:
Despite this, ‘AL’, the victim, was apparently in the habit of riding it on the road, as his father knew. Certainly, he rode it on several streets that afternoon and evening. Several witnesses saw ‘AL’ riding, probably, it’s fair to say, a little too quickly.
When ‘AL’ did not return home, his stepmother reported him missing to the police. Two officers searching the gravel forestry road found the scene of the crash. The teen’s body was pinned between the bike and the tree. His helmet was found a short distance ago.
I believe it’s unarguable that these are preventable deaths. Yet there’s been an almost complete failure to regulate.
Before the death of Jocelyn Daguman on Regatta Day of February 2023, coroner Simon Cooper, undertook a coronial investigation into seven deaths on quad bikes and ATVs between the years of 2012 and 2015 – seven deaths within the space of three years.
I will read some short excerpts from his report and then take honourable members to the recommendations. He said:
Between the 10 November 2012 and 27 December 2015, seven riders of quad bikes died as a result of accidents at various locations in Tasmania.
In his introductory comments, he says:
In a finding related to nine quad bike deaths in New South Wales, published on the 25 November 2015, New South Wales Deputy State Coroner Freund said at paragraph 6: ‘According to statistics published by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, there have been over 200 quad bike-related deaths in Australia since 2001, with approximately 64 per cent of these deaths having occurred on farms. This makes quad bikes the highest killer of workers on farms in Australia. Moreover, on average 1400 people are seriously injured in quad bike accidents in Australia each year. Of concern is that the data from the Australian Trauma Registry indicates that major trauma injuries for quad bikes have been steadily increasing from 26 in the year 2010 to 51 in the year 2012’.
Mr President, that is a near doubling within the space and of two years. Clearly, some sort of stronger regulatory response is required. Coroner Cooper goes on to say:
In these circumstances, and given that since 2000 there have been 20 deaths in Tasmania arising out of quad bike use, the use of them is a matter of general concern. Figures from the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety shows 69 people lost their lives on farms in accidents in 2015, an increase from the 54 deaths nationally in 2014.
Quad bikes and tractor fatalities accounted for 40 per cent of those deaths, with nine per cent being children.
He talks about training or the lack thereof in the use of these vehicles. He says:
The evidence was that training in safe quad bike operation is widely available, being offered in Tasmania amongst other organisations, TAFE Tasmania.
He says:
Counsel assisting submitted that it was appropriate to recommend that consideration be given by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney-General to the introduction of legislation requiring mandatory training and licensing of all persons using quad bikes.
He says:
I am satisfied that mandated training, whether by licensing or certification, is essential. Reliance upon voluntary undertaking of training is unlikely to achieve any significant take-up.
On the use of helmets, he says:
Apart from one victim, none of the riders whose deaths were the subject of the inquest were wearing helmets or had properly fastened helmets on their heads at the time they suffered fatal injuries.
He said:
Material produced at the inquest indicated that there was a very poor uptake of helmet wearing amongst those killed while riding a quad bike.
In one study tended, TARS Quad Bike Performance Project Supplemental report at pages 1 to 38, 109 quad bike fatal crashes were reviewed. It was found that in only 24 of the 109 fatalities riders were wearing helmets and that skull fracture was involved in 32.4 per cent of all fatalities and 44.4 per cent of fatalities involved traumatic brain injury.
He notes that manufacturers of quad bikes clearly recognise the need for helmets to be worn and it is recommended in most owner manuals. He says:
The results of research placed before the inquest, makes the case, in my view, for the use of helmets beyond argument. Making their use mandatory was supported by Council assisting and the Royal College of Surgeons.
The Director of Industry Safety said in his submission to the coroner’s inquest that:
WorkSafe Tasmania promotes elimination and or control of risks within the workplace context, including the wearing of appropriate personal protective equipment such as helmets.
However, no details were furnished as to how it is WorkSafe Tasmania promotes the use of helmets other than by reference to the WorkSafe Tasmania website. That website reproduces a QLD publication, which I have a copy of here if anyone wants to see it, about the use of helmets while riding quad bikes, but otherwise Coroner Cooper points out, appears not to address the issue at all.
The coronial inquiry called a Mr Scott Kebschull to give evidence and the coroner said, “I’m satisfied he was well qualified to give the evidence that he did”. Mr Kebschull said in his detailed oral evidence to the inquest that the helmet usage on quad bikes resulted in an extremely high net benefit and reduction in injury costs in the order of 60 per cent. The results of other equally reputable research predicted a net benefit as high as 64 per cent.
The coroner says:
There is no rational argument, identified or indeed imaginable, as to why the wearing of helmets whilst riding quad bikes ought not to be mandatory.
To his recommendations, and it’s important we understand these recommendations because they have been reinforced by subsequent coronial inquiries into deaths as a result of quad bike and ATV use in Tasmania and they have been largely ignored by government and we’re now going on to 10 years since Coroner Cooper’s first report.
His recommendations, after examining the deaths of seven Tasmanians just going about their lives on these highly dangerous vehicles, was this:
1. I recommend that consideration be given by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney-General to the introduction of legislation requiring mandatory training and licensing of all persons using quad bikes.
2. I recommend that urgent consideration be given by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney-General to the introduction of legislation requiring the use of a suitable approved helmet by all persons using quad bikes.
3. I recommend that consideration be given by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney-General to the introduction of legislation that
(a) prohibits children under the age of 16 from operating adult-sized quad bikes.
I respectfully pause at this point, to remind honourable members that Jocelyn Daggerman was just 14 when she died.
(b) prohibits children between the ages of 6 and 16 from operating youth-sized quad bikes other than in accordance with what is specified by the manufacturers to be the appropriate minimum age for such a vehicle; and
(c) prohibits children under the age of 6 from ever operating any quad bike in any circumstances whatsoever.
4. I recommend that consideration be given by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney-General to the introduction of legislation prohibiting the carrying of passengers on Type 1 quad bikes and any more than one passenger on Type 2 quad bikes.
5. I recommend that interested parties, including the State and Commonwealth industrial safety authorities, work collaboratively with a view to initiating the process of implementing a safety and design standard for quad bikes that is in the terms of relevant American National Standards Institute, a standard applying for the time being and pending implementation of any such standard by Standards Australia, any quad bikes imported to Australia should comply with the applicable ANSI standard and
6. I recommend that Commonwealth and state industrial safety authorities work collaboratively with other interested parties to develop a star rating system to assist in the reduction of serious injury and deaths to the users of quad bikes.
7. I recommend that a taskforce be established across relevant state government agencies to consider and develop strategies to reduce fatalities and serious injuries arising from work and recreational use of quad bikes; and finally,
7. I recommend that Tasmania Police liaise with other state and territory police services to ensure that the approach to investigation of quad bike serious and fatal accidents is standardised and to ensure ongoing training and improvement in quad bike accident investigation.
Members might remember that there was a mistake out of the Cabinet Office in August of 2020 when a bundle of Cabinet documents was sent to various people, including the Greens. Within that bundle of Cabinet documents of 17 August 2020 was a decision note for the minister for building and construction relating to quad bike safety. Now remember, this is three years, coming on four years after Coroner Cooper’s first report and his highly evidence-based recommendations. This is what Cabinet decided:
Cabinet today deliberated on the materials submitted to it in relation to quad bike safety and decided to:
(1) Note the following completed actions.
(a) A national standard on quad bike safety under the Australian Consumer Law came into effect on 11 October 2019 with phased introduction.
(b) The Quad Bike Safety Rebate scheme which commenced on 1 July 2019 has been extended to 10 October 2021, and
(c) A Quad Bike Safety community awareness campaign was undertaken from December 2019 to February 2020.
(2) Notes the progress on the amendments to the Road Rules of 2019. The Road Rules and the Work Health and Safety Regulations of 2012 (the WHS regulations)
(3) Note the report back by the Department of Justice and Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment and the action plan to implement safety measures on public land under the National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 and the Crown Lands Act 1976.
(4) Agree to proceed with the previously agreed proposals to amend the road rules and the WHS regulations together with the action by DPIPWE outlined in paragraph 3 above.
(5) With respect to Cabinet’s request for further advice on the merits of a new standalone quad bike safety bill,
(a) Note the discussion of this matter provided by the Minister; and
(b) Agree not to legislate for controls on recreational quad bike use on private land and therefore to not draft a standalone quad bike safety bill, and
(6) Agree to include provisions in the road rules and that workplace health and safety regulations allowing the carriage of passengers only where the quad bike is designed and appropriate for that purpose, consistent with Cabinet’s decision on 14 May 2019.
(7) Agree that the licencing of operators of quad bikes will not be extended beyond the existing arrangements whereby a driver’s licence Class C is required by virtue of the conditional registration required for quad bikes; and
(8) Agree that in relation to resellers of quad bikes, the Consumer Code of Practice approved in Cabinet’s decision of 29 April 2019, will not be progressed.
Very, very disappointing. The government knows that quad bikes and ATVs are highly dangerous, and there is plenty of research to confirm this. A paper released in 2024 by the Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney and the School of Rural Health at the University of Sydney in Dubbo, a paper titled ‘A Qualitative Enquiry of On-Farm Rules about Quad Bikes’ (ATVs), how rules are determined and implemented at a far farm level in rural Australia and that research went out and talked to people living and working on farms to understand how they use these vehicles. Understand what kind of training and or education they have about use of these vehicles and understand to some extent their appetite for a stronger regulatory framework. It is fair to say that the appetite amongst the small group of farmers who they undertook this qualitative research for greater regulation with, was not high.
The paper says:
After their initial introduction as recreational vehicles in the 1970s, they were adopted in North America for agricultural work. The resulting accidents led to quad bikes being labelled a significant public health risk by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Quad bikes were rapidly adopted in Australian agriculture and have now become a fixture of Australian farming, despite the much larger acreage on Australian farms.
In line with their climbing popularity and use for a variety of farm work, increases in quad bike associated injuries and deaths have been seen across Australia and New Zealand. Quad bike incidents remain a leading cause of injury related deaths on farms in Australia. In data up to 2020, quad bikes were involved in 12.3 per cent of unintentional farm deaths.
There is growing evidence of international morbidity and mortality, including in the United States of America, where there were an estimated 500 to 600 deaths each year from quad bikes between 2015 and 2017. Injuries due to quad bike incidents in farming also caused significant morbidity and financial burden on the health system.
While quad bikes are perceived to be simple vehicles to operate, there are several design features which contribute to an unfavorable stability profile. Quad bikes have a high centre of gravity and a narrow wheelbase. These features give the bikes a propensity to roll and around two thirds of bike related injuries occur during rollovers. These design factors combine with situational factors to increase the risk of incidents and injuries.
Indeed, in his assessment following the investigation into the seven deaths that happened between 2012 and 2015, Coroner Cooper noted that a number of the people who were killed by these machines, were actually quite experienced operators and cautious on the bikes that they were using, according to the evidence he received. It does point to the fact you can have been operating these vehicles for a very long time and because of their design, they can still cause devastating and tragic accidents.
More so of course if you’re a 14 year old child who’s been taken out to Boyer without your parents consent and allowed to ride an all-terrain vehicle without any training, without a seat belt, and obviously, without adult supervision.
Coroner Webster examined the death of 14-year old Jocelyn Daguman and handed down his findings on 15 April 2024. I will just read some excerpts from that report. Again, Julius and Sonia, I’m sorry to do this to you, but it needs to be placed on the record.
Coroner Webster says in his report: (tbc)
This investigation concerns a fatal single vehicle crash that occurred at approximately 2.20 p. m. on Monday the 13 February 2023 on a private bush block located on Boyer Road, near Bridgewater in Tasmania. At that time AB –
That’s the pseudonym for Jocelyn in this report,
was the driver of an unregistered Polaris Ranger 904CC, four by four all terrain vehicle. Her friend EL was a passenger in that vehicle. The crash occurred after AB lost control of the ATV as it was being driven downhill on a cleared, uneven grass section of the bush block. As a result of the loss of control, both AB and EL were ejected from the ATV, with AB sustaining fatal injuries. The weather at the time of the crash was fine and the surface of the bush block was dry.
Coroner Webster tells us a little bit about Jocelyn’s story –
AB was born on 29 August 2008 in Penrith, NSW. She was therefore 14 years of age at the date of her death. She was the third of four children and she resided with her family. The family moved to Tasmania in 2016, at which time AB attended Glenorchy Primary School for year 4. She completed years 5 and 6 at Mount Stuart Primary before attending Taroona High where she enjoyed English and mathematics. AB was a very good student.
She enjoyed competing in track and field events which included the 400 metres and the 800 metres, the javelin and the shot put. She loved music and watching programs on Netflix. She had a large circle of friends. She loved animals, with her goal being to own lots of land and care for lots of animals and practice as a veterinarian. AB was, at the time of her death, in very good health and was not prescribed any medication. This is confirmed by the medical records.
He goes on to detail the circumstances of Jocelyn’s death. I will spare Julius and Sonia that. He points out that neither girl was wearing a seat belt at the time of that tragic accident. He says, on the matter of the seat belt –
Given AB was 14 years of age, she was ineligible to hold a driver licence of any class. At the time of the crash she was not wearing an approved helmet and she was not wearing the seat belt which was provided for the use of the driver.
A thorough examination of the crash scene revealed that there were no obvious signs the ATV was under emergency braking at any point prior to the point of impact. In the absence of this evidence, the speed of the ATV prior to the collision could not be calculated. In addition, the ATV was not fitted with any device capable of recording pre- or post-crash data.
As a result of his investigation, Senior Constable Morris is of the opinion the evidence that the crash scene is consistent with the ATV performing figures of eight and circle work around obstacles on the property. AB has died as a result of losing control of the ATV, which has caused it to dig into the surface and that has resulted in her being ejected due to the rotation of the vehicle and her not wearing a seat belt.
In his comments and recommendations, Coroner Webster says –
The single most important factor which can cause death was the failure of AB to wear a seat belt. If she had worn a seat belt, she would not have been ejected from the vehicle. She would have remained within the cabin of the ATV and she would have been protected by it.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out, how is a child necessarily to know that? I will just say, what an egregious failure of the responsible adult there at the time on that day. Back to the Coroner’s report –
Similarly, had cabinets or doors, something expressly recommended for use in the operator’s manual of the ATV, been in place, AB –
That is, Jocelyn –
– would not have been thrown from the cabin and therefore she probably would not have sustained fatal injuries.
The circumstances of AB’s death require me to recommend pursuant to section 28 of the act that ATVs only be operated in accordance with the operator’s manual, particularly in regard to the wearing of seatbelts and the use of cage nets and/or doors. These vehicles have a tendency to tip or roll over when moving at speed on rough terrain or across inclines.
Then he goes to Coroner Cooper’s report and his ignored recommendations:
In Tasmania, Coroner Simon Cooper handed down very comprehensive findings after an inquest into seven quad bike deaths in 2017 –
The report was handed down in 2017, the deaths were prior to that.
Those findings contained eight recommendations directed towards reducing further injuries and deaths. Two of those findings are relevant to the circumstances of this case and are in the following terms.
I recommend consideration be given to the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney General to the introduction of legislation requiring mandatory training and licencing of all persons using quad bikes.
He reiterates another of Coroner Cooper’s recommendations:
I recommend urgent consideration be given by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Attorney -General to the introduction of legislation that:
(a) Prohibits children under the age of 16 from operating adult-sized quad bikes.
(b) Prohibits children between the ages of 6 and 16 from operating youth-sized quad bikes, other than in accordance with what is specified by the manufacturers to be the appropriate minimum age for such vehicle, and
(c) Prohibits children under the age of 6 from ever operating any quad bike in any circumstances whatsoever.
Coroner Webster says:
These recommendations are equally appropriate to ATVs such as the vehicle driven by ‘AB’, in this case. Both a warning sticker on the dash of the ATV and the manual stipulates operators are to be 16 years of age or older and have a valid driver’s licence.
Neither of which, Mr President, applied, of course, to Jocelyn Daguman.
The coroner goes on:
Inquiries as to whether these recommendations have been acted upon determined that in the 2019 20 State Budget, the government allocated $700,000 to fund a campaign to promote the improvement of quad bike safety in Tasmania.
It appears the intention was for the Department of Justice to:
Work with stakeholders on a package of regulatory or other measures to enforce compliance with safety measures in the use of quad bikes, which measures included a number of Coroner Cooper’s recommendations.
Further enquiries were made by the Coroner’s Office of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a response was received from the secretary on 10 April 2024. The secretary advised the funding was split across two DOJ outputs, namely WorkSafe Tasmania and Consumer and Building and Occupational Services (CBOS). The funding of $700,000 was allocated from retained revenue by WorkSafe Tasmania and CBOS, broadly allocated as follows which was $500,000 through a grant program to reimburse for safety upgrades and $200,000 for an educational campaign.
Regrettably, and perhaps it had something to do with the limited promotion of that grants funding, the coroner says:
Funding was used as intended. However, few grant requests were received with only $105,051 being approved for payment to quad bike users over three years from 2019 to 2020; $8102 was spent on processing grant payments; and $244,000 was spent on the education campaign. The total amount spent was, therefore, $357,874.
With respect, that is a woeful contribution from the state.
The government, as part of the 2021-22 State Budget –
This is all in Coroner Webster’s report:
Allocated $2 million over four years from 2021 22 to the primary Producer Safety Rebate Scheme.
This scheme provided cash back rebates to farmers who implemented safety enhancements to quad bikes. The coroner was advised the scheme was particularly popular and ended three years earlier than originally planned on 30 June 2022 with total payments amounting to $3.6 million which was $1.6 million in excess of the original funding allocation. Under the scheme, 62 rebates were paid for purchases to improve quad bike safety on farms and an additional seven rebates were paid for approving training courses.
Coroner Webster cites research that he undertook which uncovered the following:
(a) In a paper published by the Royal Australian College of Surgeons prior to the March 2018 State Election, concern was expressed about the increasing number of deaths and major injuries as a result of quad bike use, and that Tasmanian trauma surgeons, who manage these injuries on a far too regular basis, were acutely aware of the inherent dangers of quad bikes. They had advocated for quad bike safety for many decades and their position included these things.
Increasing rider awareness of risks:
(1) The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons believes that quad bikes and children do not mix. The surgeons urged the Australian and New Zealand governments to consider all available strategies to prohibit children under the age of 16 from riding adult quad bikes.
(2) That quad bike handling training should be mandatory for all new owners and users of quad bikes, and
(3) That there be greater rider protection through mandatory helmets and they noted a common need for improved stability, dynamic handling and rollover crashworthiness safety for both workplace and recreational quad bikes.
Mr President, you can see, through Coroner Webster’s report, he goes on to detail a number of media statements that were made by government ministers where they note the danger of quad bikes. Indeed, on 3 July 2020, the then minister for building and construction said:
Quad bike accidents can result in serious injury or death, and children are particularly at risk by quad bike use. The Tasmanian government is committed to ensuring the safety of quad bike users in the state.
Less than one month later a minute went to Cabinet which makes, regrettably, a lie of that statement, because Cabinet decided to effectively do nothing in terms of responding to Coroner Cooper’s report. So that was the announcement of the rebate scheme, and here an open invitation to regulate, even if it was just on this element of it. On 3 July 2020, the Minister said:
Tasmanians should not allow children under the age of six to ride any quad bike and should keep children under the age of 16 off adult sized quad bikes.
Coroner Cooper could not agree more and, therefore, it remains a mystery as to why the Tasmanian government has not taken the necessary steps, even just to prevent children from being maimed or killed on these vehicles. We’d like to understand why. The Greens want to know why. We have been asking questions about quad bike safety and the lack of regulation since Coroner Cooper’s report came out in 2017.
We have been consistently fobbed off. There is a persistent resistance on the part of government to regulate these unarguably dangerous vehicles. There is also an apparent resistance to engage more deeply with communities and people who use these vehicles on how to use them as safely as possible: seatbelts, helmets, operator protection equipment over the top of them. It’s been a very patchy and variable response from the government. In frustration, Coroner Webster says:
It is clear from what I’ve set out above, there has been reform since Coroner Cooper handed down his decision in 2017 which has improved safety, but it is my view that further reform should be made. There is still no requirement for people to be trained to ride a quad bike or ATV outside of the workplace or be licensed, and there are no restrictions placed on the age of the rider or driver of a quad bike, or a vehicle such as that used by AB in this case.
I repeat Coroner Cooper’s recommendations set out on page 14, and that consideration also be given as to whether the type of vehicle used by AB should be included in the provisions in the road rules that apply to quad bikes, given their similarity, or whether they should be separately provided for.
While the government in its press release in 2020 appears to agree with the age restrictions recommended by Coroner Cooper, there has been no legislation passed to give those recommendations the force of law.
I refer honourable members to the most recent Hansard of 24 September 2024 in House of Assembly Estimates Committee B, where our leader and my colleague and friend, Dr Rosalie Woodruff, asked questions of the Attorney General in relation to quad bike and ATV safety. This is a subject that we have asked the Attorney General questions about since before he was Attorney General, to the previous attorney general. We’ve got the same fob off. He tries to point Dr Woodruff to WorkSafe and she says:
It’s not. I’ve checked, we’ve been here before. I’ve looked at where this falls. It’s definitely a question for you, Attorney General, and I really don’t want your government to keep dodging this question. The coronial investigation in the five additional coronial inquests, two of them have recommended the Law Reform Institute and the Attorney General consider introducing legislation requiring mandatory training and licensing of all people using quad bikes, and that the Law Reform Institute and the Attorney General consider legislation to prohibit the carrying of passengers on type 1 quad bikes and no more than one passenger on type 2 quad bikes. ‘Will you be investigating?’ she says. He says:
Thank you very much for the question. I will certainly do my level best to answer it to the extent that we can in the Department of Justice, noting that in terms of WorkSafe, that’s a matter for the minister responsible, minister Ferguson.
Well, when the Cabinet minute came up, that came up under the minister for building and construction, not the minister for WorkSafe. This is an issue that’s being handballed around government and not being dealt with appropriately; but just to sort of synthesise what we were told, the acting secretary at the time said:
The government remains committed, as does WorkSafe, to assessing the coronial recommendations that you’ve outlined and implementing changes where reasonably practicable.
Noting that this was seven years after Coroner Cooper’s report, a year and a half after an ATV claimed the life of Jocelyn Daguman: the government is still considering the coroner’s recommendations. Regrettably, that tells us something.
Ms Bourne noted that there’d been a range of initiatives that WorkSafe had progressed, that there were some changes to the regulations. “We’re noting the number of coronial findings in relation to this really important matter”. We were told it’s a really important matter, but nothing’s changed.
Mr Barnett, as Attorney General, said he would follow up with the responsible minister, and he also said, when pressed by Dr Woodruff, that he will follow up on this matter and check with the relevant minister, Mr Ferguson, and he said:
To your question regarding the Tasmania Law Reform Institute, I’m more than happy to follow up on that as well to see what options are available. I take this very seriously, as a former minister responsible for safe farming, ensuring that the tragedy of deaths from quad bikes is reduced to the absolute minimum.
It doesn’t seem like he followed up on that. In closing, I hope honourable members will support this very sensible motion. It’s not something that’s been cooked up. It is based on the recommendations of Coroner Simon Cooper, who investigated seven deaths, and then the reinforcement of those recommendations by Coroner Cooper, and subsequently at another investigation into a quad bike death, the increasingly frustrated reiteration of those recommendations by Coroner Cooper.
What we are seeking is that there be mandatory training and licensing of all persons using quad bikes; that children under the age of 16 are prohibited from operating adult quad bikes; that children under the age of 16 are prohibited from operating youth sized quad bikes, other than in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions; and that children under the age of six are prohibited from operating any quad bike under any circumstance. This, I remind honourable members, was reinforced by the then minister: that children under the age of six should not be allowed to operate quad bikes.
If that is the government’s view, then it should be regulating. It can’t keep pushing this issue away, because we’ve had three deaths just this year and we are 10 weeks into 2026. We have the evidence before us, gathered by various coroners. We have evidence based recommendations: we have the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons calling on us to make sure that there’s better regulation around the use of these recognisably, unarguably dangerous vehicles.
What is being proposed is not an oppressive regulatory regime, and it’s not like, for example, the use of a tractor by someone who works on the land. A tractor is a much more stable vehicle by its very nature. They’re big and slow and more stable on the earth than a quad bike or an ATV; it’s quite a different set of circumstances.
We are told by the Department of State Growth that a third of all quad bike and ATV deaths in Tasmania are on-road deaths, and therefore, the Department of State Growth is undertaking a review of the road rules and I’m thankful for the review that we were provided with quite recently.
Implicit in that, of course, is that two-thirds of deaths on quad bikes and ATV’s happen off-road. They are happening either on farms, rural properties, and sometimes they’re happening on beaches and on the coastline. In some circumstances we’re having people with very little experience of controlling a vehicle like this, put in control of these vehicles and the consequences of that can be utterly devastating.
We have an opportunity here as lawmakers to send a clear message to government that the coroner’s recommendations are sound. They’re workable and they’re sensible and they will save lives.
Again, I want to thank Julius Daguman and Sonia van den Heuvel for your relentless advocacy through your grief for change. We won’t give up on this because change has to come. It’s the role of a responsible government to regulate where there is a recognised danger to public safety. I commend the motion to the council.
[4.45 p.m.]
Ms O’CONNOR (Hobart) – Thank you, Mr President. I will make some brief remarks in reply. Again, I want to thank the member for Rumney for putting forward an amendment which has clearly made the motion brought forward more acceptable to some members, without substantively undermining the intent, which is to improve community safety and save lives.
The member for Murchison gave us real insights into life on the farm as a kid and all those things that we do when we’re young, where we put ourselves at risk and somehow most of us survive. Jocelyn Daguman didn’t survive, Mr President. The 16-year-old boy who was killed on his father’s Honda TRX 250 in October of 2023 didn’t survive.
I also want to thank the member for Nelson for her comments and support for this motion.
If I could just go to the remarks made by the minister. It was good to hear about some changes in the construction, operation and design features of quad bikes and ATVs. Arguably, and with the greatest of respect, the minister is slightly conflicted by his business relationship with Polaris. It was a Polaris vehicle on which Jocelyn Daguman died on Regatta Day of 2023. A Polaris Ranger 904cc 4×4, Mr President.
Undoubtedly, due to the safety record of these machines and the toll that they take on human life, health manufacturers are improving some aspects of their safety. Undoubtedly, some governments, for example the Commonwealth through its standards, can require that all new quad bikes and ATV’s have these specific safety features. That said, the nature of these vehicles means that they’re dangerous. The research that was only released in 2024 by University of Sydney researchers points out why they can be really dangerous.
Mr Vincent talked about illegal and risky behaviours. I guess, Jocelyn Daguman engaged in risky behaviour, but she was 14. Her parents didn’t know where she was because the permission to take her was never requested. That is surely where the state has a role as a regulator. The seven people who died on quad bikes and ATVs that were the subject of Coroner Cooper’s inquiry and recommendations, were primarily people just working on the land. A number of them, as he noted, had skill and experience in operating these vehicles. It is not a reasonable argument to make that the primary problem with these vehicles comes down to illegal and risky behaviour and that we should all breathe out because some of them have improved design features.
As to government regulating what private citizens do on private properties and private land, government does this stuff all the time. If someone wants to operate a forklift on their private land, they need to be a licensed operator. If someone wants to run a horse stud on their private land, government certainly regulates many, many aspects of that operation. Same too, for example with training greyhounds to exploit.
Again, it’s a thin argument to say that because primarily these vehicles are used on private land, the government has no role. Given that Council accepted the honourable member for Rumney’s amendment, and therefore removed from the motion what would arguably be the most complex recommendation of the coroner and subsequent coroners, I would have thought that the provisions that remain in the motion, that are on the evidence of the coroner, were in some ways a gift to government; because after 10 years of, on the evidence, too little and people keep dying and people keep injuring themselves, the government is in the spotlight here for inaction bordering on negligence.
What is not supportable about kids under the age of 16 not being able to operate adult quad bikes, given what we know about the risk and the toll? What is not supportable about prohibiting children under the age of 16 from operating youth sized quad bikes, unless they do it in line with the operator’s instructions? Surely we should all agree that small children, children under six who are a risk to themselves when they hop on a bicycle –
Ms Forrest – Not all of them. Some are very good at six on a bike.
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes, but we’ve all had stacks under the age of six. I had some absolute crackers, honourable member for Murchison. I say what I said by interjection: it is not an equivalent comparison to say that some young people who come from farming families have been given an electric tractor, therefore, it’s okay to unleash a four or five year old on a quad bike. It is simply not an argument.
It was an interesting contribution from the minister, a bit of a trip down a personal lane in some ways, but I didn’t find it persuasive, and I hope that other honourable members will support the motion as amended, because what it requires of government, at the end, is to implement the recommendations of the coroner. That primarily is synthesised to referring these matters – and they be matters that we agreed on by vote – to the Tasmania Law Reform Institute to work with the Department of Justice and the Attorney General on a package of measures, whether they be legislative or regulatory.
It is not enough for the minister to say we’ve got a review going of the road rules in State Growth; and I’m absolutely certain the minister feels strongly about this. I don’t doubt that for a moment, and this minister’s area of responsibility is the road rules and so, well done, but two thirds of deaths from these machines don’t happen on the road.
In the absence of government taking action to save lives and prevent injury and prevent unending grief, if government won’t act, then it would be really something for all those grieving families to know that this Council had said, well, here’s a threshold we’ve set based on the evidence; we’ve recognised there’s complexities with some part of what was proposed, but here, in protecting kids, we can all agree.
So, notwithstanding the minister’s personal commitment to see these vehicles become more safe and more safely used, at the moment it is a very largely unregulated area of machinery use, that is one of the biggest killers of people on farms and outside cities in the country. I hope that honourable members will support the motion as amended. Send the message to government that 10 years of inaction is not acceptable and that we expect you to progress these measures, recommended by coroner after coroner, particularly to keep young people safe on these vehicles. I commend the amended motion to the Council.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
