Review of confidentiality protections in the Royal Commissions Act

We have reviewed the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) to examine any issues or impediments to people coming forward and sharing sensitive information with a royal commission.

A copy of the report of the review is available on the Consultation Hub.

Public consultation on the review

As part of this review, we sought views from people with disability, their families and carers, and a range of disability support and advocacy bodies, to ensure we captured a robust understanding of any concerns.

Background

The Royal Commissions Amendment (Protection of Information) Act 2021 commenced on 11 September 2021. It enhances protections available to people engaging with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (the Disability Royal Commission).

Following this legislation, the Attorney-General asked us to undertake a review of the Act to examine if more can be done to encourage people to come forward and share personal and confidential accounts with a royal commission.

Terms of reference

Read the terms of reference for the review

There is an Easy Read version of the Terms of Reference available for download.

The key objectives of the review were to:

• identify any impediments that may prevent or discourage people from coming forward and sharing information with a royal commission
• recommend policy or legislative options to address these impediments and facilitate greater public engagement with royal commissions, while ensuring royal commissions can still report transparent findings and recommendations.