Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme to help protect our children

The Rockliff Liberal Government is committed to protecting the Tasmanian community, particularly those who are most vulnerable – our children. 
 
Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Felix Ellis, today launched public consultation on legislative changes to strengthen the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005. 
 
“The amendments have been drafted to align the Act with contemporary national and international principles of child protection and is focused on strengthening our ability to protect our children from harm,” Minister Ellis said. 
 
“The proposed changes include a new disclosure scheme, so parents and guardians can find out if a specific person who has regular, unsupervised access to their child is on the sex offender register. 
 
“This will empower caregivers and ensure they can access the information they need to protect their children. 
 
“Further, the Bill allows the Commissioner of Police to release personal details of a reportable offender to the community when the whereabouts or location of that offender is not known. This is to ensure the safety of the community and children is paramount. 
 
“The Tasmanian Government has committed $300,000 to establish the new Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme and $2.9 million to employ an extra five Tasmania Police investigators to support this. Three of the specialist investigators commenced in July, and the remaining two will commence on Monday 18 December. 
 
“We will also restrict registered sex offenders from engaging in child-related work, we will enhance greater information sharing between government agencies, and establish new and stronger penalties for non-compliance with the Act.  
 
“Ensuring the safety of our children is paramount and the centre of these amendments,” Minister Ellis said. 
 
The public consultation period concludes at 5pm on 16 February 2024. 
 
For more information, visit https://www.police.tas.gov.au/consultations/