The Tasmanian Government welcomes the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s Criminal Justice report and recommendations that were tabled in the Australian Parliament earlier today.
The Government is committed to better protecting our vulnerable children and we have been actively cooperating with the Royal Commission to consider areas where the criminal justice system may be strengthened to support these vulnerable victims. We will also continue working productively with the Commonwealth and other Australian jurisdictions on the design of the proposed National Redress Scheme.
The Government will consider all of the recommendations in the Report but importantly, many of the recommendations align with work already being undertaken to strengthen criminal procedures in Tasmania.
This work includes reforms removing a barrier that prevents the prosecution from admitting evidence of multiple victims against a single accused person in criminal trials and to introduce a presumption that sexual offences involving multiple victims are tried together. We have also asked the Tasmania Law Reform Institute to provide a report on the introduction of the use of intermediaries in criminal trials in Tasmania.
The Government also remains committed to our policy of ensuring mandatory sentences against those who commit sexual offences against children.