Further delay to Hillcrest jumping castle inquest as Coroner still denied access to WorkSafe report

An inquest into the deaths of six Tasmanian children in the 2021 Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy is still unable to proceed following today’s Supreme Court decision ruling against investigation documents from the workplace safety regulator, WorkSafe Tasmania, being provided to the Coroner.

This places the coronial investigation on hold - almost two years on from the incident which occurred in December 2021 in which six children died, with three others injured, when a gust of wind lifted an inflatable jumping castle into the air during end-of-year celebrations at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, in the state's north-west.

Justice Gregory Geason today ruled against investigation documents from the workplace safety regulator, WorkSafe Tasmania, being provided to the Coroner.

In February this year, WorkSafe Tasmania refused to provide its report to the Coroner because it believed it would prejudice "any potential prosecutions" under work, health and safety laws.

At the time, Coroner Olivia McTaggart said the decision was "unfortunate" and adjourned the inquest pending an appeal in the Tasmanian Supreme Court in April.

Explaining that because she did not have expert opinion and engineer reports, she could not properly investigate, Coroner McTaggart advised “they are crucial to issues such as causation.

"In the absence of that material, the inquest cannot proceed."

Coroner McTaggart had previously hoped the inquest would be heard in the first half of this year.

However, today’s decision by the Supreme Court once again denies the Coroner from accessing the documents until the end of the limitation period for prosecutions under workplace safety laws - which expires in December - or the end of any criminal cases that may be brought.

According to the ABC, in his decision today, Justice Geason said he was "satisfied the disclosure of the identified records" could "impede the ability of Work Health Safety, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in turn, to fulfil its function of effectively investigating possible offences".

Justice Geason added there was a "real possibility" that "harm to the public interest" could arise from the documents being disclosed before the deadlines he set.

Image: Six children died in a jumping castle incident at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport in 2021.