We asked people to share their views and feedback on any issues or impediments to people coming forward and sharing information with Royal Commissions. We did this as part of a review of how the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) operates to protect sensitive information given, or sought to be given, to a Royal Commission.
Feedback in submissions to the review was generally positive and indicated that the new confidentiality protections implemented by the Royal Commissions Amendment (Protection of Information) Act 2021 have been helpful in terms of giving people greater confidence to share stories and experiences with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
Thank you to everyone who provided a response.
The feedback received has been used to inform the final report of the review.
The report identifies several possible legislative amendments to the Royal Commissions Act for further consideration:
We sought public submissions on behalf of the Legislation Act Review Committee as part of a broad review of all aspects of the operation of the Legislation Act 2003 (Cth), which was required by section 59 of the Act.
The Review Committee received 33 written submissions from a range of stakeholders, including government agencies, interest groups and academics. Stakeholder submissions broadly acknowledged the important functions of the Act as a mechanism for managing Commonwealth Acts and instruments, and largely agreed that the existing objectives of the Act are being achieved and remain appropriate.
Thank you to all who provided a response.
The Review Committee considered all submissions received as part of the final report of the review. On 3 August 2022, the Attorney-General tabled the final report in Parliament.
The Review Committee found the Act remains fit for purpose. The report made 28 recommendations for further consideration. These include:
In the May 2021 Budget, the Australian Government announced increased funding for Children’s Contact Services (CCS), including funding to establish 20 additional CCS across Australia.
We sought your feedback on a draft methodology to estimate demand for new CCS by Statistical Level Area Level 4 (SA4) in order to determine the location for the new CCS.
We received a total of 81 submissions to our consultation.
Responses came from across Australia and included submissions from citizens, family law professionals and service providers.
Stakeholder feedback on the draft methodology indicated:
Other feedback included:
The input we received made a substantial contribution to the final methodology used to determine the 20 locations selected.
The final methodology is based on the 3 factors that received the greatest amount of support in the consultation.
It includes a new proximity measure, and considers proximity to be the most significant factor in estimating demand. It also includes a more holistic measure of disadvantage.
The final 20 locations selected are: