The Australian Lawyers Alliance has backed Labor's push for Tasmania to introduce industrial manslaughter laws, claiming current laws are insufficient to punish companies found to have caused a worker death through negligence.
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Three states and two territories have introduced the laws, largely following on from a 2018 independent review of Work Health and Safety laws.
At the moment, companies in Tasmania can be charged with breaching workplace health and safety duties, but this is not usually an indictable offence.
Only individual people can be charged with manslaughter or culpable homicide.
Lawyers Alliance Tasmanian president Fabiano Cangelosi said adding an industrial manslaughter charge to the Criminal Code would "fill the gap" where current laws are insufficient.
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"There are certain situations where someone's death is caused by gross negligence that would be capable of being punished as manslaughter, but where existing limitations in the laws means a company cannot be dealt with in that way," he said.
"One of the advantages in industrial manslaughter laws is that companies have corporate knowledge and corporate responsibility which may draw upon the act of omission.
"Any reform in Tasmania ought to, in the view of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, involve reform to the Code to make that an indictable offence."
Labor tabled a notice of motion last week calling for the laws, and foreshadowed a private member's bill.
Their push was supported by long-term workplace safety advocate Guy Hudson, whose son Matthew died in a workplace incident at Blue Ribbon's former Killafaddy meatworks site in 2004.
Mr Cangelosi said the government had repeatedly stated it was taking a strong law and order approach, so he implored them to include justice for workers.
"The Liberal government has postured very dramatically about keeping Tasmanians safe, and has advanced an aggressive law and order campaign. It's time that workers are protected from the gross negligence of companies in pursuit of profit," he said.
A spokesperson for the government said "manslaughter is provided for in our Criminal Code Act".
"Ministers across the country responsible for WHS will consider this, and other recommendations of an independent review into model work health and safety laws in coming months," the spokesperson said.
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