Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I start, first of all, by acknowledging that it's International Women's Day today. It was a great pleasure to be there this morning for the unveiling of the commemorative statues of Dame Dorothy Tangney and Dame Enid Lyons, who were our first women elected to the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively. I wish a happy International Women's Day to all the wonderful women in my life.

I rise to speak on the Royal Commissions Amendment (Enhancing Engagement) Bill 2023. I support this bill, which amends the Royal Commissions Act to ensure the confidentiality of certain information given by or on behalf of individuals to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

This bill partially implements recommendation 6 of the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which was tabled in parliament on 11 August last year. The recommendation was to introduce a new provision modelled on a section of the Royal Commissions Act which applied to the disability royal commission. In effect, this bill means the same confidentiality protections over information given to the disability royal commission in private sessions can also apply to certain information given to it outside of a private session.

Broadly, the bill applies to provide protections of information given to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide in private session so that information given outside a private session is also protected. It particularly relates to testimony given by ADF members or veterans of their own or another's experiences of suicide, attempted suicide or poor mental health related to any period of ADF pre-service, service, transition, separation and post-service. I consider this bill to be a sensible measure that aligns with the policy adopted by the coalition in relation to previous royal commissions.

By way of background, private or confidential sessions were first established for the child abuse royal commission to enable individuals to tell their story about highly sensitive and personal matters into which the commission was inquiring in a trauma informed and less formal setting than a hearing. Royal commissions prescribed by the royal commissions regulation, including the defence and veteran suicide royal commission, can utilise private sessions. When giving information in a private session, participants do not give evidence and information is not given under oath or affirmation. There are strict limitations on the use and disclosure of that information which apply both during and after royal commission inquiries. The defence and veterans suicide royal commission generally proceeds as a public hearing. However, it receives sensitive information in ways other than in a private session, including through written submissions, phone interviews and other records of interview of an individual's experience. That is completely appropriate, to enable the commission to hear from as many as possible about their experiences.

The royal commission expressed concerns in its interim report that the existing confidentiality provisions in the act were not adequate to encourage ADF members to tell their stories. In particular, the royal commission indicated that serving members who intended to remain in the ADF were particularly concerned about the impact their disclosure of sensitive information would have on their career or subsequent experiences in service. To address these concerns, information of this kind provided and recorded outside of a private or confidential session should properly be eligible to receive protections equivalent to those provided for information provided in a private session. Information provided to the defence and veteran suicide royal commission, which includes members of staff supporting the commission, outside private sessions will therefore be accorded the same confidentiality as material obtained for the purposes of private sessions both during the course of the defence and veteran suicide royal commission's inquiry and after it concludes. The bill also contains amendments providing that documents containing the information cannot be accessed under the Freedom of Information Act.

These limits on the use and disclosure of information are necessary and reasonable to protect the privacy of the individual giving their account, as well as to respect the privacy and reputation of others who may or may not be named in the account. They therefore provide people with confidence that private information they give to the defence and veteran suicide royal commission will not be further disclosed during or after the royal commission, and that they will not be identified in the defence and veteran suicide royal commission's reports unless their information is also given as evidence.

A royal commission is not a court or tribunal and cannot determine criminal charges or civil liability. It can, however, refer information or evidence relating to a contravention of a law to law enforcement authorities or prosecutors. The bill properly, in my view, provides that a commissioner will retain a power to refer any confidential information voluntarily provided to the defence and veteran suicide royal commission alleging another person has committed an offence to a law enforcement authority, and this is an appropriate insertion. Therefore, this bill safeguards, both during and after the defence and veteran suicide royal commission, certain sensitive information that individuals provide to that commission, while still retaining the commissioner's existing powers with respect to referring matters of alleged criminal activity to the appropriate law enforcement authority.

To conclude, this bill sets out safeguards that are necessary, reasonable and proportionate and are sufficiently narrow so as to remain consistent with the right to freedom of expression. For all of the reasons set out, I commend this bill to the House, to enable the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to continue its very important work.

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