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FACT SHEET
Commissions of Inquiry Amendment Bill 2013
The Bill amends the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1995 to facilitate
concurrent operation of the Tasmanian Commission of Inquiry with the
Commonwealth Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse.
The Bill:
(a) Inserts a provision modelled on amendments to the
Commonwealth Royal Commission Act 1902 earlier this year
giving the Chair of the Commission the ability to authorise one
or more Commissioners to hold hearings with the same powers
and protections as if the evidence was given in front of the full
Commission of Inquiry and makes consequential definitional
changes;
(b) Inserts a definition of "counsel" in section 3 to clarify that the
term refers to an Australian legal practitioner within the
meaning the Legal Profession Act 2007; and
(c) Provides that the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 and
specified other provisions do not apply in relation to any
information collected for communication to or communicated
to the Commission of Inquiry; and
(d) Inserts a new section modelled on section 6P of the
Commonwealth Royal Commissions Act 1902 which provides that
where, in the course of inquiring into a matter, a Commission
obtains information or evidence that relates to a contravention
of a law the Commission may, if it considers it is appropriate so
to do, communicate the information or evidence to the relevant
law enforcement authority or, if the material is relevant to a
Commission in another Australian jurisdiction, that other
Commission; and
(e) Provides that the amendments will apply from the 4 March 2013,
the date of the appointment of the Tasmanian Commission of
Inquiry into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.