No public servants have been sacked for misconduct over Commission of Inquiry, Committee hears

No state service employees have been sacked due to evidence heard by the Commission of Inquiry or the findings in its final report, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Commission of Inquiry committee with Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

No state service employees have been sacked due to evidence heard by the Commission of Inquiry or the findings in its final report, a parliamentary committee has heard.

And the premier and state service chief still don’t know who the 22 current and former public servants are who faced potential adverse mention.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff and his department secretary Jenny Gale appeared before the House of Assembly Commission of Inquiry Scrutiny Committee in Hobart on Tuesday.

The Committee is holding two days of hearings to examine government’s response to the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.

Labor leader Rebecca White asked how many of the 22 public sector workers who received notice of potential adverse findings were still employed and whether any were involved in formulating the government’s response to the Commission.

Commission of Inquiry committee with Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Ms Gale said there had been resignations but no sackings as disciplinary action was not yet finalised.

She said she was unable to say who the 22 workers were.

Mr Rockliff also said he was not aware of who those individuals were either.

Parliament last month heard the list of those who received procedural fairness notices of potential adverse findings had been provided to government lawyers in April.

Ms White said she didn’t understand why nobody has asked for the list.

“It just doesn’t make any sense at all,” she said.

“Why haven’t you asked the government’s lawyers to provide you with those names, because they’re not only identified because they might be perpetrators – it’s also because they might be enablers.

“I think it’s important that we get to the bottom of this.

“There’s been a lot of public interest in these, we’ve asked you questions about [it] in parliament, it’s been raised through the media.

“You can’t tell us whether the same people are involved with the implementation of the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry from the government’s perspective, yet the government has the names. Why haven’t you asked for them?”

Ms Gale said a very comprehensive process was underway to review the evidence and findings of the Commission of Inquiry and she was confident all of those subject to potential adverse mention would be picked up during that.

“If I am understanding your question correctly, the information that I indicated that we were aware of back in April, which was in relation to those state servants who may have been or who the Commission of Inquiry may have been going to issue a notice, or who were considering issuing a notice, those people are known and they are included in the assessments that the agencies are undertaking,” she said.

“What we do not have is a final list from the Commission of Inquiry of the individuals to whom section 18 notices were provided, they were provided to the individuals not to institutions.”

Member for Franklin David O’Byrne asked how many senior staff had been sacked for their failure by act or omission to protect children.

Ms Gale said a report was due in the next few days which would give further detail.

She said there were currently 74 state sector employees stood down on full pay while allegations against them were being investigated.

Criminal charges have been laid against nine people as a result of the Commission of Inquiry to date, the committee heard.

Originally published as No public servants have been sacked for misconduct over Commission of Inquiry, Committee hears