Law reform funding push

Rob Inglis | The Mercury | 23 July 2022

TASMANIA’S premier law reform body has been hamstrung by “grossly inadequate” funding provisions, an independent review has found.

Established in 2001, the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute (TLRI) receives proposals for research and reform projects from a variety of sources, including the state’s attorney-general, government depart-ments, Tasmanian parliament and the legal profession.

Jointly funded by the government and the University of Tasmania, the TLRI will reach the end of its current three-year agreement in November.

In a review of the institute, initiated by UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus Black and conducted by a three-member panel of senior legal academics, it was recommended that the TLRI be provided increased funding into the future in order for it to continue its “important contribution to the state”.

This was one of 20 recommendations made to the government, UTAS and the Law Society of Tasmania, which are the founding partners to the agreement that established the TLRI.

The panel – consisting of professors John Williams and Kate Warner and Dr David Plater – also said that greater safeguards for the institute’s independence and integrity needed to be implemented.

The university is being asked to increase its annual contribution to the TLRI from up to $206,000 to $220,000.

Meanwhile, the state government’s baseline funding of $50,000 per annum was described in the review as “quite inadequate”.

“We have not attempted to work out precisely how this budget should be spent, but are of the view that $200,000 is needed (from the government) to pay for such items as a permanent research officer and an administrative position, as well as such items as non-project related community and stakeholder engagement costs,” the panel said.

Independent Nelson MLC Meg Webb said the TLRI needed to be put on a “secure and sustainable financial footing as a matter of urgency”.

“The review paints a disturbing picture of a critically underfunded and under-resourced institute, which raises concerns of it being deliberately run down leading up to the expiry of its operating agreement in November this year,” she said.

Professor Black said the work of the institute “remains vitally relevant and important”.

“ The university will give careful consideration to the review’s recommendations in consultation with the other TLRI partners,” he said. Attorney-General Elise Archer said the government would consider the review and its findings before the agreement expired.

See more of Meg in the media.