It comes after Tasmania’s magistrates and supreme courts made a decision mid-last year to introduce a new system that sees the names of defendants accused of sex crimes removed from daily court lists.

Previously, the names of all people accused of sex crimes were made public by the courts, unless a court order was in place preventing identification.

“The government is reviewing s194K of the Evidence Act 2001 which prohibits the publication of information that might lead to the identification of the victim of a sexual offence, with a view to clarifying the extent to which the prohibition applies to afford appropriate protection to victims of sexual assault,” a government spokesman said.

Hobart defence lawyer and Prisoners Legal Service chairman Greg Barns said he would welcome changes to the Act – especially if it prevent journalists from identifying people accused of sex crimes.

“To be frank, I think we should be protecting accused offenders names over victims,” Mr Barns said.

“The community’s reaction and some elements of the media’s reporting of sex offenders is so life-destroying that people shouldn’t have their names mentioned until they are found guilty.

“Even if you’re accused of such a crime, the impact on your life is so damaging.”

Mr Barns said he had met with many sex offenders whose lives had been ruined before their guilt had been determined.

He said they had lost their jobs almost immediately.

Law Society president Rohan Foon was caught off guard by the courts’ decision to tinker with its system and remove the names of alleged sex offenders.

“I’m surprised. That’s not the law,” Mr Foon said.

“We have laws that restrict publication (of information likely to identify victims). It’s not there to protect defendants. It’s there to protect victims.”

A court source told Fairfax Media that daily lists were generated automatically and a computer now removed the names of all sex crime defendants so that any risk of victims being identified was removed.

A government spokesman said courts were not obligated to publish the names of anyone in court.

“The government does not direct the courts how they manage their business as courts act independently.”