The Tasmanian NPM is an independent oversight body. It was established to uphold the human rights of people who are deprived of their liberty, and to prevent their torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The Tasmanian NPM was created in 2021, after Australia ratified an international agreement called the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment—known as ‘OPCAT’, in 2017.
This page provides information about the Tasmanian NPM’s purpose and functions, and about OPCAT.
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What is the Tasmanian NPM?
Creation of a National Preventive Mechanism is an essential obligation for Australia as a party to OPCAT. Because Australia is a federation, Tasmania’s creation of the Tasmanian NPM was essential for Australia to meet this obligation.
The main objective of the Tasmanian NPM is to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It does this by regularly visiting and examining the conditions and treatment of people deprived of their liberty. These are people who are unable to leave a place of their own free will.
The Tasmanian NPM is not a complaint investigator. Rather, it conducts its examinations proactively, with the aim of identifying issues and making recommendations to strengthen protections before any ill-treatment occurs.
In addition to its main objective, the Tasmanian NPM’s functions include providing advice and delivering education in relation to the prevention of torture and ill-treatment; and engaging cooperatively with government, stakeholders, and civil society. It does this with the goal of strengthening the treatment and the conditions of persons deprived of their liberty to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
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What does the Tasmanian NPM do?
The Tasmanian NPM is an independent statutory body established by an Act of Parliament: the OPCAT Implementation Act 2021. This Act gives the Tasmanian NPM the independence and powers it needs to fulfil its functions, in accordance with OPCAT.
The Tasmanian NPM exercises four key overarching functions:
Visits
The Tasmanian NPM’s main role is to visit prisons, detention centres, and health and social care facilities around Tasmania. During a visit, the conditions and treatment of people deprived of their liberty are examined, and recommendations are made with a view to preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Advice
Following visits, the Tasmanian NPM makes recommendations to improve the treatment and conditions of people in the places we visit. Recommendations cannot be enforced, but relevant authorities have an obligation to talk to us about ways to implement our advice. Failures to implement recommendations can also be highlighted in follow-up reports.
Additionally, the Tasmanian NPM submits feedback on proposed laws and policies, and reviews rules, methods and practices. This work is published in addition to annual reporting.
Every year the Commonwealth Ombudsman also publishes an annual report on the activities of all NPMs around Australia, which is sent to the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture.
Education
Raising awareness about human rights is an important part of preventing torture and ill-treatment. In addition to providing oversight, the Tasmanian NPM publishes materials and delivers education to relevant authorities, stakeholders and the wider public.
Cooperation
The Tasmanian NPM engages cooperatively with government, Parliament, and non-government bodies to share information and strengthen protections. Under OPCAT, the government is also obliged to cooperate with the Tasmanian NPM.
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What is OPCAT?
OPCAT establishes an oversight framework designed to help states comply with their international human rights obligations and related UN standards.
The core obligations that states have to uphold are set out in the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment — known as the ‘CAT’. Australia is a longstanding party to the CAT, having ratified it in 1989.
Australia is also a party to many international human rights agreements and standards that provide further detail on the different circumstances that can amount to prohibited treatment or punishment. These human rights agreements identify, and help states to understand, their responsibilities under international law.
Together, the CAT and OPCAT require Australia to criminalise, and take active measures to prevent, all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Under international law, the prohibition of torture has special status: it is never allowed or justifiable.
OPCAT is founded on the principle that proactive, independent oversight is essential to preventing serious violations of human rights, and to strengthening the protection of people deprived of their liberty.
To help states meet their international human rights obligations, OPCAT establishes two oversight mechanisms:
- the National Preventive Mechanism; and
- the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture—known as the SPT.
Every state that ratifies OPCAT must establish an NPM, and must allow the SPT to visit it and inspect places of detention.
The SPT is an independent visiting treaty body that assists NPMs with their work, and visits countries periodically to conduct its own examinations. The SPT visits Australia every four to five years and the Australian NPM provides it with annual reports on its activities.
Further information about NPMs and the SPT is available at the website of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner (external link).
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What is preventive monitoring?
Preventive monitoring is focused on preventing future occurrences of torture and ill-treatment. NPMs do not respond to past incidents or complaints.
The NPM's job is to proactively prevent such incidents or events happening in the first place. This includes making recommendations for the improvement of conditions and treatment within places where people are deprived of their liberty. The NPM is focused on making systemic improvements in collaboration with the relevant authorities.
Preventive visits can take a number of forms and may be broken down into ‘themes’.
A visit may:
- cover many themes at once and take several days, or may focus on one particular theme, taking less time
- involve external experts, such as specialist medical practitioners
- be announced or unannounced
The Tasmanian NPM may also perform follow-up visits. The number, type, length and theme of a visit will be dependent on the resources and program of the Tasmanian NPM at any given time.
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Australia’s NPM framework
Under OPCAT, states are given some flexibility to set up their NPM in a way that works for their own circumstances. In Australia, every state and territory, as well as the Commonwealth, is setting up its own NPM to fulfil the state's obligations. All together, these NPM bodies will form Australia's NPM.
The Tasmanian NPM is part of this 'Australian NPM' group.
Although each NPM is independent, as a collective they work together from time to time to advance strategic goals and shared responsibilities. The Commonwealth NPM plays a unique role of coordinating these joint Australian NPM activities.
Information about the Australian NPM and its work is available at the website of the Commonwealth Ombudsman(external link).
