Most States and Territories and the Commonwealth have statutory schemes dealing with past convictions and the circumstances in which they need not be disclosed to third parties.
While the various jurisdictional schemes are similar they diverge from each other in various respects.
To address the problems which the differences create when national criminal history checks are undertaken the Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) has developed a Draft Model Spent Convictions Bill which seeks to bring together the better elements of the various jurisdictional schemes.
A Draft Model Bill has been prepared and consultation is being undertaken by all States and Territories and the Commonwealth. A Consultation Paper has been prepared by SCAG as part of the consultation process. For the purposes of consultation in Tasmania, the paper has been annotated to indicate the current provisions of the Tasmanian Act against the provisions of the suggested Model and are enclosed for your information and comment.
Draft Model Spent Convictions Bill ( PDF 56.9KB)
Spent Convictions Model Bill - Consultation paper ( PDF 38.7KB)
The Tasmanian Government has not committed to adopting the Model laws. However, it will consider the outcome of the consultations, local and national, and the Model Bill as it is finally adopted by SCAG before reaching a conclusion on the matter.
Comments are sought by Tuesday 27 January 2009. Any comments received after that date may not be able to be included in the report on the national consultations.
Submissions may be sent to:
Director
Legislation Development and Review
GPO Box 825
Hobart TAS 7001
or emailed to legislation.development@justice.tas.gov.au
