Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all honourable members for their contributions to the debate on the Royal Commissions Amendment (Enhancing Engagement) Bill 2023. The government supports the crucial, ongoing work of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and has welcomed the findings and recommendations made in the commission's interim report. To enable the royal commission's findings and recommendations to be as robust as possible, it needs to receive information relevant to its terms of reference from a wide range of stakeholders. This includes, crucially, encouraging as many people as possible who have personal stories or experiences to have the confidence to share these with the royal commission.

The government particularly recognises the royal commission's observation in its interim report that serving Australian Defence Force members may have been hesitant to engage with the royal commission due to concerns around the adequacy of the confidentiality provisions in the Royal Commissions Act 1902. It is essential that the royal commission hears from as many Australian Defence Force members as possible, so it is vital that these men and women feel they can safely share their stories and experiences with the royal commission.

While existing confidentiality protections in the Royal Commissions Act 1902 are strong, we recognise the royal commission's recommendation that extending these protections would give people greater confidence in sharing information with the royal commission. The new confidentiality protections being introduced by this bill will ensure there is greater ability for sensitive personal information to be protected both during the royal commission's inquiries and after it has concluded.

Under new section 6OQ, which this bill will create, certain information provided to the royal commission outside of a private session will be able to be protected in the same way as if it were given in a private session, if the royal commission treats that information as confidential at all times. This means that information to which the protections apply will not be admissible in evidence against a natural person in any civil or criminal proceedings in a Commonwealth, state or territory court. It will be a criminal offence to use or disclose the information in an unauthorised manner. The information will only be able to be included in a report of the royal commission if it is de-identified or if it is separately received by the royal commission as evidence. The information will be excluded from the open access period under the Archives Act 1983 for 99 years and the information will be exempt from the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

These protections will be available to information provided by any person. This includes serving and ex-serving ADF members and their families. In consultation the government undertook prior to introducing this bill, the royal commission, the Defence and Veterans Legal Service and defence and veteran stakeholder groups expressed strong support for the new protections, along with hope and expectation that they will encourage more people to come forward and share their stories.

I thank the honourable member for Berowra for his acknowledgement, during debate on this bill, of the importance of ensuring the royal commission receives as much information as possible to inform its inquiries and his appreciation of the measures this bill implements to achieve that objective. I also thank the Minister for Veterans' Affairs for his ongoing efforts to improve services and outcomes for the veterans community. Among many other important initiatives, this includes his recent announcement of significant public consultation on a pathway to reform more than a century of veterans' entitlement legislation, which will provide veterans the support they need and deserve. The government also committed substantial funding to progressing responses to other recommendations of the royal commission's interim report.

This is vitally important work. This government is committed to undertaking a thorough and considered process on legislation and arrangements for veterans' entitlements and providing funding and support in order to deliver a better future for veterans and their families. It is the government's sincere hope that the increased confidentiality protections in this bill will encourage more people to come forward to engage with the royal commission and that the inquiry's findings lead to better outcomes for defence members and veterans.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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