Tasmania Law Reform Institute

Ongoing Law Reform Projects

Sex Offences Committed by Young People: Evaluating the Efficacy of Responses by the Tasmanian Youth Justice System

This project will evaluate how well the Tasmanian youth justice system (YJS) operating under the Youth Justice Act 1997 (Tas) ('the Act') responds to online and physical sexual offending committed by young people. Based on the stated aims and objectives of the Act (ss 4 and 5), which include:

  • encouraging young people to accept responsibility for their behaviours.
  • ensuring that young people who commit offences are provided with ‘appropriate treatment and rehabilitation’.
  • enabling victims to participate in formal cautions and conferences.
  • encouraging and supporting guardians to fulfil their responsibilities to young people who commit offences.

This study is a self-referred project funded by the Department of Justice. A Research Paper will be prepared and published.

Review of the Tasmanian Constitution

This project is based on a referral to the TLRI from a 2016 Constitutional Working Group, supported by a Law Foundation grant. It is the second stage of a review and reform project on the Tasmanian Constitution Act 1934. The first stage, which was supported by the Law Foundation, involved a deliberative review by a working group constituted of leading State and national scholars and professionals from all branches of government, the public and the legal sector. This project's second stage aims to identify the most appropriate reform options in the interests of the Tasmanian community, governance and legal system. The Terms of Reference relevantly provide:

  • Review and describe the current constitutional arrangements for Tasmania both written and unwritten;
  • Provide a list of constitutional powers, duties or privileges which require statutory clarification for good government, public interest and the rule of law;
  • Identify which essential institutions, organs, powers and duties of constitutional government are adequately described and which are not in the Constitution Act 1934 (Tas);
  • Examine the accessibility, clarity and relevance of the sections, and structure of the current Constitution Act 1934 (Tas); and
  • Identify whether best-practice would be achieved by amending the current Constitution Act 1934 (Tas) or drafting a new Constitution Act.

This project is funded by the Law Foundation of Tasmania. A Research Paper will be prepared and published.

Review of Commissions of Inquiry Act 1995 and section 194K of the Evidence Act 2001

The Terms of Reference are:

To examine and report on the operation of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1995, and section 194K of the Evidence Act 2001 (Tas) to:

  1. examine the need for any extension of the powers of a Commission of Inquiry
  2. examine any statutory limitations identified by the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings in its final report
  3. specifically examine the appropriateness of sections 18 and 19 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1995 and section 194K of the Evidence Act 2001 (Tas) in the context of the practical experience of the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, and
  4. make recommendations for any necessary legislative change.

This project was referred to the Institute by the Attorney-General, the Hon Guy Barnett and funded by the Department of Justice. A Research Paper will be published.

McBurnie Postdoctoral Fellowship: Rights, Interests and Abuse of Older Tasmanians

The aim of the McBurnie Fellowship is to generate research that promotes the legal rights and interests of older Tasmanians. This may include:

  • improving the ways in which older Tasmanians are considered, included and provided for in the state’s system of law, government and justice; and
  • recommending ways in which elder abuse in Tasmania can be better detected, responded to, and ultimately reduced.

Within the broad aims of the Fellowship, the project’s scope has been refined to conduct research focused on safeguarding against the abuse of older Tasmanians.

Project objective:

To address a gap in the research specific to the Tasmanian context by identifying gaps in the legal landscape and potential reforms to the law that increase the effectiveness of different intersecting legal frameworks to safeguard against and support help-seeking for abuse.

Project aims:

  1. Map the current legal landscape for addressing the abuse of older Tasmanians and explore how identified gaps limit the ability to safeguard against different forms of abuse.
  2. Conduct an environmental comparison of Tasmania with other Australian jurisdictions to identify key drivers that have underpinned reforms to the legal landscape in these jurisdictions.
  3. Consider implications regarding the applicability of these drivers in the Tasmanian context regarding reforms that may be considered to have the potential to fill the identified gaps in the legal landscape and remove barriers that limit safeguarding against abuse of older Tasmanians.
  4. Identify additional requirements in Tasmania to support implementation of any such reforms aimed at developing effective responses to risk factors for the occurrence of abuse and of help-seeking.

This project is funded by Dr Suanne Lawrence. A Research Paper will be prepared and published.

Joy and Don McBurnie Postdoctoral Fellowship