Reports and publications

Reports

Annual Reports

View all the Department's Annual Reports

Independent Review of the Tasmanian Planning Commission - Report

The review was called for on 20 October 2019 and was conducted by an independent consultant. Its purpose was to ensure that the structure of the Commission and its functions and powers were appropriate to allow it to continue to effectively perform its role as an independent decision maker and advisory body within the evolving and maturing Tasmanian planning system.

The review included a comprehensive consultation process with input from key stakeholders. It was originally expected to be completed by July but the consultation process was extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission's membership and functions are established under legislation and any changes will require the approval of Parliament.

Download the Independent Review of the Tasmanian Planning Commission - Report (PDF, 618.5 KB)

Contact us if you require an accessible document and we will produce one in 10 working days.

Independent Review of Expungement of Historical Offences Act 2017: Report of the Independent Reviewers

Section 32 of the Expungement of Historical Offences Act 2017 (the Act) requires the Minister to cause an independent review of the operation of the Act to be completed within 6 months after the second anniversary of the Act’s commencement. The Act commenced on 9 April 2018.

An independent review was conducted, including a call for written submissions from interested parties to enable consideration of the matters.

The Report of the Independent Review of Expungement of Historical Offences Act 2017   (PDF, 4.0 MB) was tabled in Parliament on November 17, 2020.

Contact us if you require an accessible document and we will produce one within 10 working days.

KPMG Audit Report Sentence and Remand Order Processing

In May 2016 KPMG was commissioned to undertake an audit of sentence and remand order processing following the identification of a number of occasions where prisoners had been released on the incorrect date.

The audit report produced by KPMG was released by the Government on 8 March 2017.

The objective of the audit was to understand the inadequacies in the existing system and improve compliance with the processes for obtaining, entering and validating sentence and remand orders, and calculating release dates.

The report includes a suite of recommendations for reforms to address the factors that contributed to the incorrect releases and to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the process for the future.

The Government’s response to the audit recommendations has also been released, outlining the actions that will be taken to prevent a recurrence of these issues. Work has already commenced to implement some of these responses.

Download the KPMG Sentence and Remand Order Processing Internal Audit Report (PDF, 1.7 MB)

Download the Government's response to the report (PDF, 317.1 KB)

KPMG Review of the Magistrates Court

In 2016 Attorney-General Dr Vanessa Goodwin commissioned a review of the Magistrates Court to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and overall performance.

KPMG was appointed to undertake the review and their resulting report contains several key recommendations to ensure more timely completion of matters within the Court, including:

  • Legislative changes to improve management of civil and criminal proceedings,
  • Streamlining administrative and electronic processes, and
  • Redefining the current organisational structure.

A new Magistrates Court Administrator has been appointed and will be supported by a fixed term General Manager to swiftly implement the required changes. In addition, Secretary of the Department of Justice Simon Overland is chairing a Steering Committee to progress the recommendations made within the review.

One of the first tasks will be to revise the current remand in custody procedures, including a focus on information sharing between the courts, the Tasmania Prison Service and Tasmania Police. This will address issues raised in both the review of the Magistrates Court as well as the recently released KPMG Sentence and Remand Order Processing Audit Report.

It is important to note that although the Government will be working to review and implement many of the report’s recommendations, in order to ensure all Tasmanians have appropriate access to justice we will not be pursuing the recommendation to consolidate the Burnie and Devonport courthouses.

The review of the Court was conducted in consultation with key stakeholders, including Magistrates Court staff, Community Corrections, the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute, Tasmanian Law Society and Tasmanian Bar Association.

Download the KPMG Review of the Magistrates Court Report (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Electoral Act Review - Final Report

On 3 May 2018 the Premier, the Hon. Will Hodgman, announced that a review would be undertaken of Tasmania’s Electoral Act 2004 and associated election laws to be jointly conducted by the Department of Justice and the Department of Premier and Cabinet (the Review).

The Review has been guided by two principles: protecting freedom of speech, with note to Constitutional implications; and minimal cost to the taxpayer.

The Terms of Reference for the Review are:

  1. Modernising the current Tasmanian Electoral Act, with specific examinations of sections including section 191(1)(b), 196(1) and 198(1)(b);
  2. Whether state-based disclosure rules should be introduced, and, if so, what they should include; and
  3. The level of regulation of third parties, including Unions, during election campaigns.

The Terms of Reference for the Review were released for public consultation from 12 June to 20 July 2018.

The Interim Report was informed by the submissions on the Terms of Reference, recent case law and the experience of other Australian jurisdictions including legislative models in place in those jurisdictions.

The Interim Report provided a summary of this information and preliminary analysis and posed 20 consultation issues to guide consultation. The Interim Report was released for public consultation on 20 December 2018, which closed on 15 April 2019.

In addition, a draft Bill containing a number of minor and technical amendments proposed for introduction as the first tranche of reforms resulting from the Review was released for consultation at this time. The amendments were passed by both Houses of Parliament and have since commenced.

The Final Report

The Final Report (PDF, 6.7 MB) has now been released.

It is divided into four sections which largely align with the three Terms of Reference for the Review and include an additional section relating to implementation issues for the proposed reforms.

The Final Report makes 11 recommendations. Several of these recommendations contain a number of sub-sections. This detail is included to ensure readers can form an accurate picture of the reforms proposed.

Submissions

The submissions received on the Terms of Reference and the Interim Report are now available below, other than those submissions, or parts of submission, which the Tasmanian Government Public Submissions Policy provides are not for publication. That includes submissions from exempt bodies; duplicate or updated submissions, personal, sensitive or offensive or defamatory information; information the submitter requested be confidential; information that does not substantively comment on relevant issues; or that would be exempt under the Right to Information Act 2009 or contrary to the Personal Information Protection Act 2004.

Terms of Reference

Name/Organisation Date
Andrew Wilkie MP (PDF, 77.1 KB) 19 July 2018
Rosemary Armitage (PDF, 1.4 MB) 18 July 2018
Local Government Association of Tas (LGAT) (PDF, 202.8 KB) 19 July 2018
Graeme Lindsay (PDF, 445.6 KB) 18 July 2018
Ivan Dean MLC (PDF, 381.6 KB) 5 July 2018
Kerin Booth (PDF, 773.6 KB) 12 July 2018
Lynette Shennan (PDF, 243.5 KB) 12 July 2018
Kerrie Thomas (PDF, 520.1 KB) 11 July 2018
Simon Warriner (PDF, 15.2 KB) 9 July 2018
Robert O’Keefe (PDF, 411.7 KB) 26 June 2018
News Corp Australia & Fair Fax Media (PDF, 158.7 KB) 13 June 2018
Dr Kevin Bonham (PDF, 40.2 KB) 19 July 2018
Australian Christian Lobby (PDF, 145.3 KB) 20 July 2018
Tasmanian Electoral Commission (PDF, 386.7 KB) 20 July 2018
Don Wing (PDF, 4.5 MB) 20 July 2018
Unions Tasmania (PDF, 206.2 KB) 20 July 2018
Civil Liberties Australia (PDF, 574.7 KB) 20 July 2018
Tasmanian Greens (PDF, 202.5 KB) 20 July 2018
Local Government Professionals (PDF, 349.7 KB) 19 July 2018
Professor Richard Eccleston and Mr Nicholas Gribble (PDF, 1.1 MB) 20 July 2018
Australian Labor Party (Tasmania) (PDF, 491.6 KB) 20 July 2018
Anne Layton-Bennett (PDF, 692.3 KB) 20 July 2018
Sven Wiener (PDF, 62.9 KB) 20 July 2018
Liberal Party of Australia (Tas) (PDF, 145.7 KB) 23 July 2018
Hobart City Council (PDF, 1.9 MB) 24 July 2018
Integrity Commission (PDF, 3.1 MB) 18 July 2018

Interim Report

Name/Organisation Date
Allan P Fawcett (PDF, 14.2 KB) 13 February 2019
Australian Labor Party (Tasmania) (PDF, 424.4 KB) 15 April 2019
Andrew Heard (PDF, 15.1 KB) 13 February 2019
Anne Layton-Bennett (PDF, 711.3 KB) 24 March 2019
Ann McCuaig (PDF, 277.1 KB) 18 February 2019
Anonymous (PDF, 365.2 KB) 18 February 2019
Anonymous (PDF, 18.6 KB) 13 February 2019
Anonymous (PDF, 66.2 KB) 13 February 2019
Catherine Errey (PDF, 89.2 KB) 15 February 2019
Community Legal Centres Tasmania (PDF, 533.3 KB) 14 April 2019
David Halse Rogers (PDF, 110.9 KB) 7 February 2019
Dr Andrew T Davidson (PDF, 62.1 KB) 17 February 2019
Dr David Treanor (PDF, 71.4 KB) 13 February 2019
Kevin Bonham (PDF, 369.7 KB) 15 April 2019
Essie Davis (PDF, 14.5 KB) 15 February 2019
Fairlie Ferguson (PDF, 66.1 KB) 18 April 2019
Georgina Ferguson (PDF, 47.9 KB) 14 February 2019
Graeme Lindsay (PDF, 194.0 KB) 31 January 2019
Grant Scurr (PDF, 9.9 KB) 13 February 2019
Jaquie Lambie Network (PDF, 256.1 KB) 19 February 2019
Jeremy Nuttall (PDF, 46.5 KB) 15 February 2019
Jill Nolan (PDF, 13.6 KB) 14 February 2019
John G Hughes (PDF, 82.4 KB) 14 February 2019
Keith Thompson (PDF, 43.5 KB) 15 February 2019
Kym Achilles (PDF, 38.3 KB) 17 February 2019
Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmania) (PDF, 179.7 KB) 4 February 2019
Marcus Higgs (PDF, 78.7 KB) 15 February 2019
Margaret Taylor, R J Scott, Austra Maddox (PDF, 123.8 KB) 4 February 2019
Max Atkinson (PDF, 836.9 KB) 12 April 2019
News Corp and Nine (PDF, 820.6 KB) 14 January 2019
Noela Foxcroft (PDF, 18.8 KB) 14 February 2019
Peter Blackwell (PDF, 47.3 KB) 16 February 2019
Professor Richard Eccleston and Dr Zoe Jay (PDF, 343.1 KB) 15 April 2019
Richard Angus (PDF, 84.8 KB) 13 February 2019
Robert Jackson (PDF, 42.2 KB) 15 April 2019
Ross Licolne (PDF, 45.2 KB) 14 February 2019
Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmania) (PDF, 417.0 KB) 4 February 2019
Sara Dane (PDF, 14.0 KB) 13 February 2019
South Hobart Progress Association (PDF, 43.6 KB) 4 February 2019
Stephen Foskett (PDF, 62.8 KB) 13 February 2019
Sue Nettlefold (PDF, 16.7 KB) 15 February 2019
Tasmania 2018 Election Inquiry (PDF, 241.0 KB) 15 February 2019
Tasmania Law Reform Institute (PDF, 104.5 KB) 17 April 2019
Tasmanian Greens (PDF, 642.0 KB) 18 February 2019
Tasmanian Greens (PDF, 786.3 KB) 20 February 2019
Tasmanian Electoral Commission (PDF, 2.0 MB) 19 March 2019
Tess Fletcher (PDF, 14.1 KB) 13 February 2019
Tim Sprod (PDF, 13.8 KB) 11 February 2019
Tom Kingston (PDF, 215.8 KB) 13 February 2019
Tony Thurstans (PDF, 62.6 KB) 14 February 2019
Una Harbinson (PDF, 15.4 KB) 13 February 2019
Unions Tasmania (PDF, 245.0 KB) 15 April 2019
United Church, Alliance for Gambling Reform, Foundation of Alcohol Research and Education, National Alliance for Action on Alcohol (PDF, 57.9 KB) 15 April 2019
Uniting Church of Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania (PDF, 116.7 KB) 18 February 2019
Vica Bailey (PDF, 872.6 KB) 15 April 2019
Warren Hastings (PDF, 64.8 KB) 18 February 2019
Zoe Cosens (PDF, 41.4 KB) 13 February 2019
Independent Review of the Public Trustee Tasmania - Report

The Tasmanian Government released their response to the Independent Review of the Public Trustee Tasmania, on 25 May 2022

Read the Government Response to the Independent Review of the Public Trustee Tasmania (PDF, 380.6 KB) (PDF, 380.6 KB).

The Tasmanian Government released the independent review into the administrative and operational practices of the Public Trustee, on 1 December 2021

Read the Independent Review of the Public Trustee Tasmania - Report (PDF, 1.7 MB) (PDF, 1.7 MB)

Publications

Last updated: 16 October 2023