New agreement strengthens oversight of child safety in Tasmania

The Registrar for the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP) Scheme has recently been working with other oversight bodies to improve the management and oversight of reports, complaints and concerns relating to child sexual abuse. The work also included improvements to information sharing between the Scheme and other oversight bodies in Tasmania with a role in keeping children and young people safe.

The result of this work has been the creation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote collaboration between the:

• Commissioner for Children and Young People
• Office of the Independent Regulator
• Integrity Commission
• Tasmanian Ombudsman
• Registrar for the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Scheme.

The MoU aims to:

• define the roles, responsibilities, functions, and limitations of each party
• define how each of the Parties will consult with one another before initiating systemic reviews or inquiries related to areas of common interest or intersecting functions
• promote a framework for information-sharing practices that prioritise the safety and welfare of children and young people in individual matters, by enabling each Party to receive de-identified trend data from the others to facilitate the performance of their respective functions.

The MoU was drafted by the Commission of Inquiry Response Taskforce, Department of Justice as a response to the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings Recommendation 18.15.

In response to the publication of the MoU, Ange McCrossen, Registrar for the RWVP Scheme said:

'I regard the safety, protection, and wellbeing of our young Tasmanians as the most important part of my job. I am constantly reviewing our processes to ensure we are providing the most effective working with vulnerable people scheme possible. This MoU is a key piece of work to ensure our responses to reports are timely and effective.'

Visit the recently updated RWVP website to learn more about the Scheme and read the MoU in full.