# The Child Safety Gap Inside TASPOL

An episode of [Badge of Betrayal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1852919243), 17 Apr 2026, 19 min.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/fbab9570-a7a3-4fd4-a673-b3940044b1b8/5a66bf72-7225-48c2-b454-b42f0035ff8c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=2f1fa4b5-119b-41b5-8749-b3940044b5a4

A Tasmanian parliamentary hearing has exposed a shocking child safety loophole: for months, Tasmania Police were effectively outside the state’s reportable conduct scheme. In this episode, we unpack the committee bombshell, what the regulator revealed, and why the failure to report police matters is causing alarm. We also share new listener information and a fresh lead connected to Paul Reynolds that could open another line of investigation. If you have information that you would like to share, email us anonymously at podshape@proton.me If this episode is triggering, please pause and seek support. • Lifeline: 13 11 14 — https://www.lifeline.org.au • Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 — https://kidshelpline.com.au • 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 — https://www.1800respect.org.au If you have information that you would like to share, email us anonymously at podshape@proton.me See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: Apoche Production.
[0:15] Speaker 2: Welcome.
[0:16] Speaker 3: Today we're having a hearing of the Joint Sessional Committee
[0:18] Speaker 3: inquiring into recommendations made into the final report of the
[0:22] Speaker 3: Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's response to child
[0:26] Speaker 3: sexual abuse in institutional settings.
[0:29] Speaker 4: It's challenging to comprehend something that happened recently in a
[0:32] Speaker 4: parliamentary committee in Tasmania. It involves TASPOL and how mandatory
[0:38] Speaker 4: reporting was handled since August of 2025. Let's explain first
[0:43] Speaker 4: what mandatory reporting means. The Child, Youth and Safe Organisation
[0:48] Speaker 4: Act of 2023 came into effect in January of 2024.
[0:54] Speaker 4: It requires organisations that work with children and young people
[0:57] Speaker 4: to take the necessary steps to keep them safe, including
[1:01] Speaker 4: reporting concerns about inappropriate conduct by workers, even if it
[1:06] Speaker 4: happens outside of work.
[1:09] Speaker 5: Thank you.
[1:10] Speaker 3: All evidence taken at this hearing is protected by parliamentary privilege,
[1:13] Speaker 3: allowing individuals to speak with freedom without fear of being
[1:16] Speaker 3: sued or questioned in any court or place out of parliament.
[1:18] Speaker 3: I remind you that any comments you make outside of
[1:20] Speaker 3: the hearing may not be afforded such privilege. The hearing
[1:23] Speaker 3: is public, which means members of the public and media
[1:26] Speaker 3: may be present. The evidence you present is being recorded
[1:29] Speaker 3: and a hand side version will be published on the
[1:31] Speaker 3: committee website when it becomes available. The hearing is also
[1:33] Speaker 3: being broadcast.
[1:35] Speaker 4: As this meeting went on, there were discussions on the
[1:37] Speaker 4: amount of reportable offences that have been brought forward to
[1:40] Speaker 4: the regulator.
[1:41] Speaker 5: My role as a regulator is to drive compliance by
[1:44] Speaker 5: monitoring the state's child safeguarding laws to ensure a consistent
[1:47] Speaker 5: application of the Child and Youth Safe Framework. I acknowledge
[1:51] Speaker 5: the collaborative effort of other regulatory and oversight agencies and
[1:55] Speaker 5: the dedicated work of my brilliant team in delivering quality education, training,
[2:00] Speaker 5: monitoring and oversight services. Early indications, though, based on the
[2:04] Speaker 5: volume of matters reported through to the Reportable Conduct Scheme,
[2:08] Speaker 5: in conjunction with increasing engagement by organisations with our forums
[2:13] Speaker 5: and online educational materials, there are strong indicators that children
[2:17] Speaker 5: are becoming safer. We are seeing an upward trend in
[2:21] Speaker 5: the number of reportable allegations being reported to the OIR. Obviously,
[2:25] Speaker 5: this can be taken as either a good or bad
[2:28] Speaker 5: indicator of child safety. Again, given the early stage of
[2:31] Speaker 5: the scheme and what we know from the Commission of Inquiry,
[2:35] Speaker 5: allegations or incidents of harm to children are expected to occur.
[2:40] Speaker 5: Reporting and taking action to investigate these allegations is pivotal
[2:45] Speaker 5: in building a child safe culture.
[2:48] Speaker 4: That's the voice of Louise Coe. She heads up the regulator.
[2:53] Speaker 4: About 14 minutes into this committee meeting was what I
[2:57] Speaker 4: thought a bombshell.
[2:59] Speaker 5: In August last year, my office was notified that Tasmanian
[3:02] Speaker 5: police received legal advice, correcting earlier advice, that police officers
[3:07] Speaker 5: are not subject to the reportable conduct scheme. This is
[3:10] Speaker 5: of obvious concern and I note the recommendation of Peter
[3:13] Speaker 5: Woolcock in his review, Strategic Recommendation 6.1, to explicitly include
[3:19] Speaker 5: Tasmanian police as a regulated entity and make them subject
[3:22] Speaker 5: to both the Child News Safe Standards and reportable conduct schemes.
[3:26] Speaker 5: I've met recently with the Attorney-General, who has assured me
[3:29] Speaker 5: this matter would be addressed as a priority, and even
[3:31] Speaker 5: more recently, I received correspondence from the Department of Justice
[3:35] Speaker 5: in relation to a regulation amendment. It's my wish that
[3:38] Speaker 5: this regulation is made retrospective to 1 August last year. Finally,
[3:44] Speaker 5: in terms of government agencies requiring to comply with the
[3:47] Speaker 5: Child and Youth Safe Framework, I have continued to urge
[3:50] Speaker 5: the heads of these agencies to develop a Child and
[3:52] Speaker 5: Youth Safe Action Plan. This is not a mandatory requirement
[3:56] Speaker 5: but is a highly desirable way to demonstrate commitment to
[3:59] Speaker 5: implementing the framework. So far, DPFEM, Department of Health, have
[4:04] Speaker 5: submitted action plans for our review and comment. DSIP has
[4:07] Speaker 5: also most recently provided their first action plan. Nationally, Tasmania
[4:13] Speaker 5: is an early adopter of both the Standards and Reportable
[4:16] Speaker 5: Conduct Scheme. Our experience and knowledge setting up both schemes
[4:20] Speaker 5: has been sought out by our interstate partners. Across the nation,
[4:23] Speaker 5: there is excellent collaboration and knowledge sharing.
[4:27] Speaker 6: Tasmania's child safety legislation was updated last week with an
[4:32] Speaker 6: urgent fix after concerns mandatory reporting of any alleged child
[4:37] Speaker 6: abuse committed by staff did not apply to police officers.
[4:41] Speaker 6: The child safety regulator said Tasmania police stopped complying with
[4:45] Speaker 6: mandatory reporting laws in August last year after police received
[4:50] Speaker 6: legal advice that indicated officers were exempt.
[4:55] Speaker 5: We know what we're saying.
[4:56] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[4:57] Speaker 6: That's good to hear.
[4:59] Speaker 3: Sarah, did you want to go?
[5:00] Speaker 7: Yes, thank you. I just wanted to go back to
[5:03] Speaker 7: during your opening remarks, you mentioned about Tasmania Police having
[5:06] Speaker 7: some advice that they weren't part of the reportable conduct scheme.
[5:09] Speaker 7: And you said that the Attorney General had indicated that
[5:11] Speaker 7: he would be remedying that through regulations and that you
[5:14] Speaker 7: hoped that it would be retrospective. Is it your understanding
[5:18] Speaker 7: that it will be retrospective or.
[5:20] Speaker 5: don't know it's a reg amendment and as I said
[5:23] Speaker 5: I think it was again just last week the Department
[5:25] Speaker 5: of Justice sent us a copy of the reg and
[5:26] Speaker 5: we've written back and I've asked can it be retrospective
[5:29] Speaker 5: because from 1 August last year they had stopped reporting
[5:35] Speaker 5: the identity of matters through to my office and we've
[5:37] Speaker 5: had very few matters actually reported through and I know
[5:40] Speaker 5: there have been instances where there's been significant interactions with
[5:45] Speaker 5: young people.
[5:48] Speaker 4: So let's stop down and find out how this reporting
[5:51] Speaker 4: that TASPOL didn't do from August of 2025 works.
[5:57] Speaker 8: If an entity completes their investigation into an allegation of
[6:00] Speaker 8: reportable conduct, should that outcome be reported to the IOR?
[6:05] Speaker 2: Yes.
[6:06] Speaker 8: So every investigation should be reported to the IOR?
[6:09] Speaker 1: Yes.
[6:10] Speaker 5: It starts with the allegation being reported. So then we
[6:13] Speaker 5: know there is an allegation. There's a 30-day update requirement
[6:17] Speaker 5: that within 30 days they update us as to where
[6:19] Speaker 5: that's at. And then there's a requirement to notify us
[6:23] Speaker 5: of the final outcome. So once we receive the allegation,
[6:26] Speaker 5: it goes.
[6:26] Speaker 9: Into our system.
[6:27] Speaker 5: So we will be following up at those points.
[6:29] Speaker 8: So you should know about every investigation that's happening?
[6:33] Speaker 9: Yes.
[6:34] Speaker 8: And then if the OIR disagrees with the outcome, so
[6:38] Speaker 8: for example, if an allegation was made against a coach
[6:40] Speaker 8: and the sporting organisation undertook an investigation and finds that
[6:44] Speaker 8: reportable conduct did occur, but if you disagreed with that
[6:49] Speaker 8: outcome and find that it wasn't reportable conduct, can the
[6:52] Speaker 8: sporting organisation in that example still take an action against
[6:56] Speaker 8: the coach, even though you've said you don't agree that
[6:58] Speaker 8: it was supported?
[7:00] Speaker 5: So as an oversight role... I provide that advice, they
[7:04] Speaker 5: don't have to follow it. So they can do what
[7:05] Speaker 5: they want with it? They want to take action, yes.
[7:08] Speaker 4: This committee meeting went for the full scheduled 90 minutes.
[7:12] Speaker 4: It covered a range of different aspects in child safety,
[7:15] Speaker 4: including incidents at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre. Towards the
[7:21] Speaker 4: end of the meeting, they went back to the TAS poll,
[7:24] Speaker 4: non-reporting issues.
[7:26] Speaker 9: Thank you. I'd like to go back to the fact
[7:28] Speaker 9: that TAS Police is apparently not covered by the reportable
[7:32] Speaker 9: conduct scheme. And to understand better your level of engagement
[7:36] Speaker 9: with TAS Police, given there's been history of the most
[7:39] Speaker 9: egregious breaches of trust and damage to children, does TAS Police,
[7:44] Speaker 9: or have they informed you, for example, that they have
[7:48] Speaker 9: any sort of child safety framework or policies or practices
[7:54] Speaker 9: in place?
[7:54] Speaker 5: So DPFPM have put in a Child Safe Action Plan.
[7:58] Speaker 5: So they have taken that on board. Up until that
[8:02] Speaker 5: sort of change in focus, I think there's been quite
[8:05] Speaker 5: good engagement with TAS Police and the department as a whole.
[8:10] Speaker 5: It's just really concerning now that it's a gap and
[8:13] Speaker 5: we've seen some matters that have come through reception prisons
[8:17] Speaker 5: involving police officers and that's concerning and we don't have
[8:22] Speaker 5: oversight of that.
[8:23] Speaker 9: And what happens in that instance? If a young person
[8:26] Speaker 9: reports that they've been physically or sexually harmed by a
[8:32] Speaker 9: TAS police employee, what happens?
[8:34] Speaker 5: So my understanding, they'll still do an internal review. It's
[8:37] Speaker 5: just that the advice they've received, they can't give us
[8:41] Speaker 5: the names of the police officers involved. And as I
[8:44] Speaker 5: explained earlier with our system, we put the subject of
[8:47] Speaker 5: allegations details in them and track that profile. So that's
[8:51] Speaker 5: a concerning aspect. And then the outcomes of report, there's
[8:55] Speaker 5: matters they have reported, obviously prior to 1 August, and
[8:59] Speaker 5: they will give us the outcome in some particular matters. And,
[9:02] Speaker 5: you know, a couple of them I might have concerns,
[9:04] Speaker 5: but others seemed appropriate, the appropriate outcome. I don't really
[9:08] Speaker 5: have that oversight at this point in time. That's why
[9:11] Speaker 5: the concern about the regulation.
[9:13] Speaker 9: But you do have before you the DPFEM Child Safe
[9:18] Speaker 9: Action Plan. Are you able to share with the committee
[9:20] Speaker 9: what are the elements of that plan?
[9:22] Speaker 5: Well, it's how they're going to socialise the Child and
[9:25] Speaker 5: Youth Safe Standards within their organisation. And that's something that
[9:29] Speaker 5: we're in negotiation, well, not in negotiation, we gave them
[9:32] Speaker 5: feedback in their development. And as I said, it's more
[9:36] Speaker 5: about just socialising the scheme at this early stage. What's
[9:39] Speaker 5: it going to look like? Are people going to know
[9:41] Speaker 5: what the standards are? So it's not particularly demanding, but
[9:46] Speaker 5: it's just to keep it on the agenda and make
[9:48] Speaker 5: it a strategic document that it's part of the organisation.
[9:52] Speaker 5: It's not an add-on. It's not like a regulatory burden.
[9:56] Speaker 5: This is how we improve our service delivery, particularly to
[9:59] Speaker 5: children and young people, and this is how we're socializing
[10:02] Speaker 5: it because there's no point saying we're a child safe
[10:04] Speaker 5: organization and the workers know nothing about the standards so
[10:07] Speaker 5: it's about socializing that and taking a really child safe
[10:11] Speaker 5: approach and as i said there is an intention police
[10:15] Speaker 5: are happy i understand to be In the scheme, again,
[10:19] Speaker 5: or correctly within the scheme. So they should be. Yeah,
[10:23] Speaker 5: so there's no pushback there. It's just an unfortunate turn
[10:26] Speaker 5: of events, really.
[10:28] Speaker 4: The regulator has gone to the Department of Justice and
[10:31] Speaker 4: also the Attorney-General in Tasmania to make this new legislation
[10:35] Speaker 4: where Tasmanian police are required to make mandatory reports.
[10:40] Speaker 5: But when I met with the Attorney-General, he said it
[10:42] Speaker 5: was a priority and it would be addressed. And so far,
[10:45] Speaker 5: it looks like it is a priority. So hopefully soon.
[10:48] Speaker 9: Thank you.
[10:50] Speaker 4: If you're like me, after the allegations against Paul Reynolds
[10:53] Speaker 4: and other allegations against senior police officers, which were announced
[10:56] Speaker 4: in March of 2025, for police not to be part
[11:00] Speaker 4: of mandatory reporting is a little mind-blowing. The ABC put
[11:05] Speaker 4: some of these questions to TASPOL in an article on
[11:08] Speaker 4: April 8th of this year, where Here's a sample of
[11:11] Speaker 4: that article.
[11:12] Speaker 6: Tasmania Police updating protocols. When the ABC asked Tasmania Police
[11:18] Speaker 6: if it wrote to the regulator about its legal advice
[11:21] Speaker 6: and why it did so, it did not directly answer
[11:25] Speaker 6: but pointed to the resulting legislative changes, saying it would
[11:29] Speaker 6: recommence referrals under the reportable conduct scheme from April 1st. Quote,
[11:35] Speaker 6: Tasmania Police is committed to being a child-safe organisation... And
[11:40] Speaker 6: this includes having the reporting and oversight procedures in place
[11:44] Speaker 6: to appropriately respond to any suspicion of harm to a
[11:47] Speaker 6: child or young person, it said. When the ABC asked
[11:52] Speaker 6: its questions again, Tasmania Police said its legal advice determined
[11:57] Speaker 6: Tasmania Police were not an entity for the purposes of
[12:00] Speaker 6: the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023 and, as such.
[12:07] Speaker 6: Not able to provision certain information to the OIR. Tasmania
[12:12] Speaker 6: Police had been undertaking a review of its procedures under
[12:15] Speaker 6: the Act and developing protocols in relation to disclosure of
[12:19] Speaker 6: information for the purpose of the reportable conduct scheme in
[12:23] Speaker 6: Part 4 of the Act.
[12:28] Speaker 4: Laws have been updated to explicitly include police in Tasmania.
[12:33] Speaker 4: It's not yet confirmed whether this would be backdated to
[12:35] Speaker 4: cover the eight month gap in reporting. In the second
[12:44] Speaker 4: half of the episode, I want to bring you some
[12:45] Speaker 4: new information. The first is from our anonymous email account
[12:50] Speaker 4: at pod shape at proton dot me. That's pod shape
[12:54] Speaker 4: at proton dot me. We've used an AI voice actor
[12:59] Speaker 4: to recreate this email.
[13:02] Speaker 1: Hello.
[13:02] Speaker 6: I have only recently discovered your podcast and have been
[13:06] Speaker 6: binge listening to the episodes. Hearing the story unfold has
[13:10] Speaker 6: brought back some memories from my childhood that I feel
[13:13] Speaker 6: may be worth sharing. I grew up on the west
[13:16] Speaker 6: coast of Tasmania. In the 1980s, our community was very close-knit.
[13:21] Speaker 6: Sport and the social side of sport, particularly basketball and football,
[13:26] Speaker 6: were a huge part of life. and most families across
[13:30] Speaker 6: the West Coast knew each other in one way or another.
[13:33] Speaker 6: Between roughly 1987 and 1990, our local police officer was Paul.
[13:40] Speaker 6: He was a larger-than-life character and very involved in the community,
[13:44] Speaker 6: especially with sport and local kids. His partner worked at
[13:48] Speaker 6: the bank in nearby.
[13:51] Speaker 6: As teenagers, around 15 to 18 years old at the time,
[13:55] Speaker 6: many of us were around him through sport and social activities.
[13:59] Speaker 6: One thing I remember clearly was what he called a boys' club.
[14:04] Speaker 6: It was held in the back shed of the police house,
[14:07] Speaker 6: and younger boys would gather there late in the evenings.
[14:10] Speaker 6: I was excluded because I wasn't a boy, which even
[14:13] Speaker 6: then felt a little odd to me. Looking back now,
[14:17] Speaker 6: it stands out more than it did at the time.
[14:21] Speaker 6: Paul often seemed to surround himself with younger male company.
[14:25] Speaker 6: At the time, it didn't raise major alarms for us.
[14:28] Speaker 6: We were just kids in a small community. But in hindsight,
[14:32] Speaker 6: it's something I've thought about. There were also times where
[14:36] Speaker 6: he seemed to look the other way when someone got
[14:38] Speaker 6: caught with something they shouldn't have had. It would be
[14:41] Speaker 6: taken off them and the matter would disappear without much question.
[14:45] Speaker 6: Years after I left the West Coast, I only encountered
[14:49] Speaker 6: him twice. Once was at Belle Reve Police Station when
[14:53] Speaker 6: I needed documents signed. The second time was at the
[14:56] Speaker 6: Country Club Casino in Launceston. When I approached him, his
[15:00] Speaker 6: reaction felt strangely uncomfortable, even though we had once been friendly.
[15:05] Speaker 6: I told him I would go find my partner, who
[15:08] Speaker 6: had known him well too, but when we returned he
[15:10] Speaker 6: had disappeared, just vanished.
[15:17] Speaker 4: This message runs the same scenarios as we've heard before.
[15:21] Speaker 4: We heard from X, who was abused by Reynolds.
[15:24] Speaker 2: I remember going out on the golf course and stargazing
[15:27] Speaker 2: with him and he's got me in a, you know,
[15:31] Speaker 2: often some of his police holds that he's obviously skilled in,
[15:35] Speaker 2: you know, tactical positioning, how to position his body and,
[15:39] Speaker 2: you know, and, you know, he'd get on top of
[15:41] Speaker 2: me and... Like in the change rooms, like I was
[15:44] Speaker 2: listening to another, someone else that called up and said
[15:47] Speaker 2: something about, you know, testing you out almost. Like he literally,
[15:51] Speaker 2: you know, caught me off guard. And I think I
[15:53] Speaker 2: was free balling that day, you know, wearing no underwear. And,
[15:58] Speaker 2: you know, because you're sort of getting strapped and putting
[16:01] Speaker 2: the oil on and for warmth, et cetera. And then
[16:04] Speaker 2: he would make remarks, you know, like, oh, it's, you know,
[16:08] Speaker 2: three degrees warmer up there and, you know, prod you
[16:11] Speaker 2: near like you would be mortified but you would just
[16:15] Speaker 2: go well this guy's my coach and he's a police
[16:17] Speaker 2: officer that was sort of in the back of your
[16:19] Speaker 2: mind as well so you just you were reluctant to
[16:22] Speaker 2: sort of say too much And he would go, you know,
[16:25] Speaker 2: you've got to, and if you're not going to tackle someone,
[16:28] Speaker 2: you've got to use all your force and might and
[16:30] Speaker 2: you've got to go through them like a human battling ram.
[16:33] Speaker 2: That's the sort of stuff he would say. And his
[16:36] Speaker 2: cheeks would shake and he would be sweating diffusely and
[16:40] Speaker 2: spitting diffusely.
[16:41] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[16:44] Speaker 4: And then there was another man who wants to stay anonymous,
[16:46] Speaker 4: but he had information as well. He wasn't abused by Reynolds,
[16:50] Speaker 4: but he did share information that have led us to
[16:52] Speaker 4: further investigations.
[16:56] Speaker 1: My name is * * * * * *. I've
[16:59] Speaker 1: been listening to The Batch of Betrayal every week since
[17:01] Speaker 1: it came out. Firstly, mate, I am not a victim,
[17:05] Speaker 1: but wanted to reach out and express my appreciation for
[17:08] Speaker 1: what you're doing. I played basketball at Devonport in 1993-94
[17:12] Speaker 1: and Reynolds was our assistant coach. Every story I hear
[17:19] Speaker 1: from you is so similar. Every Thursday night at training,
[17:23] Speaker 1: we would all go to his house and hang out,
[17:26] Speaker 1: watch basketball videos or the footy show. This was usually
[17:30] Speaker 1: 6-8 15-18 year olds as he only lived one block
[17:34] Speaker 1: from the Devonport Stadium. We didn't drink, and if we
[17:38] Speaker 1: did it wasn't much, as we all took sport pretty seriously.
[17:43] Speaker 1: The one thing I wanted to point out, and I'm
[17:45] Speaker 1: fairly certain it was 1994, Reynolds had a 15-year-old * * * * * *
[17:50] Speaker 1: exchange student live with him. After what I know now,
[17:55] Speaker 1: I am extremely concerned for this person. I think his name.
[17:59] Speaker 9: Was * * * * * *.
[18:00] Speaker 1: But that's all I got. And I know he went to.
[18:04] Speaker 9: * * * * * * high.
[18:08] Speaker 4: We've been able to get hold of yearbooks from those
[18:10] Speaker 4: years at the school, and we've also used right-to-information requests
[18:14] Speaker 4: for anyone that was involved in the exchange student program
[18:17] Speaker 4: in those years. Right now, we've really had no luck.
[18:22] Speaker 4: And that's, I guess, where I need your help. Maybe
[18:25] Speaker 4: you went to this school. Maybe this information has rung
[18:30] Speaker 4: some bells for you. This is the first time we've
[18:34] Speaker 4: heard these allegations that Reynolds... had a young male exchange
[18:38] Speaker 4: student live with him in 1994. If you have information
[18:43] Speaker 4: that could help us,

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