Child Safety Obligations in Tasmania: Stronger Laws and a New Oversight Agreement

Child Safety Obligations in Tasmania: Stronger Laws and a New Oversight Agreement

In 2024, Tasmania introduced new child safety legislation under the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023 (Tas). The legislation aims to ensure children and young people are better protected, and that organisations who work with them are held to a clear and consistent standard. These laws establish two main frameworks: the Child and Youth Safe Standards and the Reportable Conduct Scheme.

The Child and Youth Safe Standards

Tasmania has 10 Child and Youth Safe Standards (Standards) which align with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. These Standards set out what organisations should be doing day-to-day to keep children safe. It aims to guide organisations to build safer cultures and practices, reduce the risk of child abuse and to ensure vulnerable children and young people are safe and supported.

The Standards include the Universal Principle for Aboriginal Cultural Safety. This means organisations must employ real and practical steps to provide a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal children and young people.

The Reportable Conduct Scheme

Alongside the Standards, Tasmania has also mandated the Reportable Conduct Scheme (Scheme), overseen by the Office of the Independent Regulator.  The Scheme requires organisations to report and investigate allegations of child abuse and specified types of misconduct by staff or volunteers. The Independent Regulator also holds investigation and infringement powers if organisations are found to be non-compliant and has the capacity to share information regarding reportable allegations and investigations to other regulatory bodies.

A United Front, the New Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Child safety is everyone’s responsibility, and both organisations and regulators play a key role in creating and fostering a culture of child safety. In August 2025, five of Tasmania’s key regulatory bodies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU is an interim response to one of the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.

The MOU is anchored by three principles;

1. Putting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people first;
2. Respecting each agency’s independence; and
3. Committing to work together for the best outcomes.

This agreement brings together five regulatory bodies; the Commissioner for Children and Young People, the Office of the Independent Regulator, the Integrity Commission Tasmania, the Ombudsman Tasmania, and the Registrar for the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Scheme.

The MOU sets out the roles and responsibilities of each regulator, ensures that agencies consult with one another before launching systemic reviews or inquiries in overlapping areas of responsibility, and establishes a standard for sharing information. The latter is particularly important so that trends and risks that impact child safety can be efficiently identified and appropriately mitigated.

This agreement is a temporary measure to guide collaboration until the new Commissioner for Children and Young People is appointed. The agreement will then be reviewed and updated to reflect the Commissioner’s expanded statutory functions and their perspective on how oversight should work in practice.

What Does This Mean for Organisations?

Organisations working with children and young people in Tasmania must ensure they are fully compliant with the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework. This includes organisations regularly reviewing their policies and procedures, implementing child safe recruitment strategies, training staff, and having child-focused complaints systems in place that identify and respond to reportable conduct.

How Can Safe Space Legal Help?

Safe Space Legal has extensive experience working with Tasmanian organisations to ensure they are meeting their child safety legal obligations.

If your organisation requires assistance in meeting its obligations to implement the Child and Youth Safe Standards or Reportable Conduct Scheme, please get in touch with our team today.

Safe Space Legal has significant legal and holistic expertise to empower organisations to be child safe. Our services include:

• Audits and gap analyses of documents and practices against the Child and Youth Safe Standards
• Child safety policy suite development
• Tailored child safety training
• Reportable Conduct investigations
• Legal advice on child safety legal obligations
• Critical incident review