Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great privilege to be able to speak in support of the Royal Commissions Amendment (Protection of Information) Bill 2021, as other members have done so, but without the partisan pontificating of the member for Melbourne, because this bill comes to the heart of what the government is seeking to provide—that is, assistance for Australians who have a just reason to raise legitimate grievances of abuse, neglect or violence and to make sure that in the context of the royal commission confidential information is treated with confidence to ensure that Australians with a disability who are victims of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation know with absolute confidence that their information is not going to be released without their approval, so they will be forthcoming and provide information so that the royal commission can fulfil its important role.

It really shouldn't need to be said, but there is no place for violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation of people with a disability. I'm sure everybody in this House will agree that such conduct is abhorrent and it should be taken very seriously. And, like many times when we have a royal commission, we start from the basic proposition that we wish we never had the need to have one. But, for a royal commission to get to the bottom of the challenges that are faced and to make sure the issues that sit at the heart of its calling can be fulfilled, information is required. Australians need to come forward and inform the commissioner, the Hon. Ronald Sackville, to provide the information base the commission needs to make fair determinations of the problems that sit at the heart of the system. And, of course, they're both individual complaints and systemic ones.

As you may recall, Deputy Speaker, we dealt with similar issues in the context of the human rights commission's inquiry into sex discrimination in this place and the need to ensure that there were proper protections in place to make sure that those who wished to bring forward allegations and confidential information could do so and know that it would not be revealed at a later point or without their permission through other processes such as freedom of information.

This bill dealing with the royal commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with a disability is implemented fulfilling the request by the chair of the royal commission to make sure that those people with disability and those who are also including a large number of advocates have sought these protections to make sure that that information can be brought forward. The tragedy of the need for a royal commission will lead to really what will be no doubt very confronting evidence, even if it is anonymised and de-identified. We all know that tragically there are people who do wrong against people in vulnerable situations or in vulnerable conditions. We saw that, tragically, in the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and the recommendations that came as a direct result of that. Sadly, I doubt many of us are expecting that we won't see systemic as well as individual problems in the context of people with a disability.

The protections will apply if the information was treated as confidential by the disability royal commission at all times after being provided by the royal commission. Sometimes the confidential status of information will change during the inquiry; for example a person may decide to appear at a hearing and give evidence after initially providing their story to the commission on a confidential basis, because—many members will know—many times we get approached with information, and people subsequently decide they wish to keep it confidential for their own reasons or the protection of others, or, of course, because of a concern about their own health and security. Often when it comes to matters of health, the importance of medical privacy is a key condition of concern and it can lead people to become increasingly concerned about their privacy and their safety as a consequence of the release of information publicly.

There will be information that will be protected which will carry offences if revealed of up to 12 months imprisonment for the unauthorised use or disclosure of information. Any information provided will not be admissible against the person who provided it or on whose behalf the information was provided in any criminal or civil proceedings. The government amendments ensure that information which is given by a person or by another person on their behalf is not admissible in proceedings against either person. It is important that we recognise that some people may not feel confident telling their story to commissioners without these important protections and also to ensure that family members and other carers feel confident telling their stories. And people with severe or cognitive disability may be unable to give information themselves and may rely on a third party to provide their account to the royal commission.

Of course, there are always challenges when we go around collecting information for important work such as this royal commission but when we do so what we critically want is a hard evidence base to inform the consideration of the royal commission and to ensure that it makes findings and recommendations that are provided both to the public but also to this parliament with the confidence that they have thoroughly and appropriately considered the weight and body of evidence available. But that only comes from courageous people who come forward and tell their story, tell their truth, and tell their lived experience as a mechanism by which we can learn and establish the basis of our empathy and where wrong has been done that there are proper steps towards accountability. If people fear providing that evidence base to the royal commission then what is deprived is not just their story and their lived experience—though it is—but the capacity to inform the royal commission so that it can make full and judicious decision-making and recommendations to this parliament, though that is also a critical part of it. But ultimately what is denied is the confidence that the public and the people of Australia will have in its recommendations.

What this bill is focused on is not just giving people a pathway to provide their stories with confidence—though it is—the real strength of it is that it will build public confidence that no stone is left unturned, that the royal commission is free in its capacity to do its work, that victims of abuse or neglect and other nefarious behaviour have a chance to tell their full story and, more critically, to have a royal commission that fulfils its purpose and maintains public confidence as part of a judicial process and a legislative process to ensure that the days confronting Australians with a disability are brighter, not just because we have provided a pathway for truth-telling, not just brighter because we provide a pathway to address their concerns and understand them, but to ensure that this parliament gives full consideration of what we need to do to make sure that the wrongs of the past will not be repeated in the future.

See this speech in context