On 4 April 2019, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, General The Hon. Sir Peter Cosgrove issued Commonwealth letters patent appointing The Hon. Ronald Sackville, Ms Barbara Bennett, Dr Rhonda Galbally, Ms Andrea Mason, Mr Alastair McEwin and The Hon. John Ryan as Commissioners and detailing the Commission's terms of reference. The Commissioners were appointed to be a Commission of inquiry, and required and authorised to inquire into the following matters: The Commissioners were directed to make any recommendations arising out of their inquiry that they consider appropriate, including recommendations about any policy, legislative, administrative or structural reforms. The Commissioners, without limiting the scope of their inquiry or the scope of any recommendations arising out of their inquiry that they may consider appropriate, were also directed to, for the purposes of their inquiry and recommendations, to have regard to the following matters: Where appropriate, the Commissioners were directed to not inquire into matters that lie within the scope of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Commissioners and executive
On 4 April 2019 the government appointed The Hon. Ronald Sackville, Ms Barbara Bennett, Dr Rhonda Galbally, Ms Andrea Mason, Mr Alastair McEwin and The Hon. John Ryan as commissioners to the royal commission. On 13 September 2019 the government appointed The Hon. Roslyn Atkinson as a seventh Commissioner.
Powers
The powers of Royal Commissions in Australia are set out in the enabling legislation, the. The was approved by Parliament to give the Child Abuse Royal Commission additional powers to fulfil its Terms of Reference. Notable changes were:
Enabling the Chair to authorise one or more members to hold a public or private hearing
Authorise members of the Royal Commission to hold private sessions
Royal Commissions, appointed pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act or otherwise, have powers to issue a summons to a person to appear before the Commission at a hearing to give evidence or to produce documents specified in the summons; require witnesses to take an oath or give an affirmation; and require a person to deliver documents to the Commission at a specified place and time. A person served with a summons or a notice to produce documents must comply with that requirement, or face prosecution for an offence. The penalty for conviction upon such an offence is a fine of or six months imprisonment. A Royal Commission may authorise the Australian Federal Police to execute search warrants.
Submissions
Public hearings
Reports
The federal government requested that the Commissioners provide an interim report by 30 October 2020, and a final report by 29 April 2022.
