Proposed changes to strengthen protections for vulnerable Tasmanians

We are seeking your input on phase one of planned changes to the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People scheme (the scheme), which exists to protect the most vulnerable people within our communities.

In Tasmania, the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013, together with the Regulations, requires individuals who work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults to apply for registration.

The application process involves a series of screening and risk assessment processes that carefully consider an individual’s past behaviours and is designed to stop people from entering situations where they may present an unacceptable risk of harm to vulnerable people.

The scheme also facilitates ongoing monitoring of registered people, including for notification of reportable behaviour made against a registered individual.

What is changing?

The Tasmanian Government has committed to expand the scheme to firstly close the gaps in child-related activities, and then to include broader protections for categories of vulnerable adults.

Proposed changes to the scheme will be made in three phases and include:

1. The removal of two exemptions from the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Regulations 2024 (the Regulations), closing the gap in child-related activities by the end of 2024.
2. The introduction of new regulated activities, covering services and settings to protect new categories of vulnerable people by the end of 2025.
3. The introduction of nationally consistent aged care worker registration during 2026, subject to a national agreement currently under development.

This phased approach will allow for more in-depth community consultation and alignment with national reform, ensuring successful implementation of the Scheme in line with community expectations and best practice.

Why are these changes being made?

The expansion responds to relevant recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, as well as Federal government inquiries including the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

Implementing the recommendations from the Federal inquiries ensures Tasmania’s Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Scheme is consistent with national approaches to worker screening.

What are we seeking your feedback on?

We are currently seeking your feedback on the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Amendment Regulations 2024 (the amendment regulations).

The amendment regulations address phase one of the scheme expansion and propose to remove two exemptions from the Regulations.

What exemptions will be removed?

• 7-day exemption
  Currently, people working or volunteering with children in a regulated activity (hyperlink to definition/glossary of terms) for 7 days or less in a calendar year do not need a registration if someone else who has a registration (or is also exempt) is present during the regulated activity. With the removal of this exemption, anyone who intends to work or volunteer with children in a regulated activity for 7 days or less in a calendar year will need to apply for registration to work with vulnerable people.
• Emergency management worker exemption
  Currently, people working or volunteering as emergency management workers during an emergency do not need a registration to work with vulnerable people. As emergency management work is not considered a regulated activity under the scheme, this exemption is unnecessary.

Removing these two exemptions is a step towards creating environments where children and vulnerable people are safe and people who engage with them (as workers or volunteers) are properly screened.

Have your say!

The Tasmanian Government is committed to ensure that the public has an opportunity to review and provide feedback on these proposed changes to the Regulations. In line with this commitment, the draft amendment regulations are open for public consultation so that input from all interested stakeholders can be considered in the final Regulations.

For more information, frequently asked questions and a simple guide to these changes, visit the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Expansion Project webpage.

To read the draft amendment regulations and provide your feedback, visit the Department of Justice’s Community Consultations webpage.

For those interested in keeping up to date with the RWVP scheme expansion and receiving the latest project updates, subscribe to the project newsletter.