By Lauren Broomham.
If you have been watching the Royal Commission hearings from the comfort of your desk, you may not be getting a sense of the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into keeping the Commission moving forward.
In addition to the six Senior Counsels leading the proceedings – and co-solicitors – there are over 50 people in the Commission’s team working on everything from research and policy to community engagement.
Coordinating the hearing locations – which will travel to each capital city and some regional centres – has fallen to one member of the team who has worked on four previous Royal Commissions.
The journalists covering the hearings – myself included – have access to a media room where we can watch the proceedings and a live transcript plus a portal which is continually updated with the exhibits and transcripts.
There is still a long way to go, however. The first community forums for the public get underway this week: the first in Bankstown in Sydney on Friday, 1 March 2019, and the second next week in Bendigo in Victoria on Tuesday, 5 March 2019 with Commissioner Lynelle Briggs AO to be present at both.
The next formal hearings are also scheduled to take place in Adelaide between Monday, 18 March 2019, and Friday, 22 March 2019 – with hearings to continue now into 2020.
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