Many families who have been through coronial processes in the ACT will be very pleased to see the ACT Government take the first step towards reform of our coronial system and hear the Government publicly restating its commitment to further work to develop a restorative framework in this area. The bill addresses several of the significant issues raised by the Coronial Reform Group, and, furthermore, the government has initiated new initiatives to ensure a more restorative approach for families, including the recent appointment of a Family Liaison Officer at the court. There is still work to be done, however, and key areas that need to be addressed including the urgent need for a dedicated coroner in the ACT, on-going barriers to the effective participation of families, the protection of family privacy, the scope of coronial investigations and failures to oversight and implement coronial recommendations. Bereaved families in the ACT find themselves struggling to get the answers they need, waiting too long for inquests to be held and unable to procure independent legal representation to ensure their voices are fairly heard. We need to work together to build innovative processes that support relationship building and power-sharing, where the government works in a genuine, restorative partnership with our community (Ros Williams).
The Canberra Restorative Community Network acknowledges the passing of the Coroner's Amendment Bill on Thursday 23rd July 2020. Please take time to listen to the speeches given in the Legislative Assembly by Mr. Hanson, Minister Rattenbury and Attorney-General Ramsay. The Tripartisan support for restorative approaches in Coronial Inquiries serves as a foundational first step towards reforming current, often adversarial, coronial processes. The speeches acknowledge the unrelenting work of the Coronial Reform Group, as well as the fact that there is still a great deal of work to be done. The Canberra Restorative Community will continue to work closely with the Coronial Reform Group to support their goals for restorative coronial processes.
(Coroners Amendment Bill 2020 http://aod.parliament.act.gov.au/ To listen, go to "Recent Assembly Replays", choose Thursday 23rd July, scroll down on the right-hand side "Assembly Session Log" through to 5.14pm. Jeremy Hanson, Shane Rattenbury, Gordon Ramsay all address the Bill.)