It is the responsibility of the Chairperson and his/her staff to:
· Organise and manage the appearance of all persons coming before the commission.
o The tipstaff should organise the order of witnesses and ensure that each witness is prepared to deliver his testimony when called. Tipstaff shall also call each person at the appropriate time and formally introduce them to the persons gathered at the commission.
o The barrister assisting the Chairperson has the task of questioning each of the persons who appears before the commission on the completion of the presentation of the witness’s submission. It is the responsibility of Counsel Assisting to ensure that all persons have given a full and honest account of themselves and, once each person has made his/her submission, Counsel should ask any questions that s/he believes will help the commission to come to a fuller understanding of the circumstances of the death of the young woman Laura Wishart and/or relevant social attitudes or cultural behaviours.
· When all submissions have been made to the Inquiry, the Chairperson may, at his/her discretion choose to recall and further question any persons who have previously appeared.
· The Chairperson shall gather, organise and publish as a part of the final report, written submissions from all persons who appear before the commission.
· Prepare the final report for the Parliament of Western Australia to be delivered to His Excellency, The Governor on a date to be arranged.
The following persons (see list below) are to be called before the Inquiry. Each person is to provide a written submission that they must also read out at the Inquiry. Persons making submissions are encouraged to use visual aids to support their presentations.
In their submissions, each person appearing before the Inquiry should consider including some or all of the following information:
Ø A brief introduction explaining who you are;
Ø An account of what circumstances or training gives you experience or qualifications relevant to the Inquiry;
Ø Information (i.e. your story or research data) which is relevant to the Inquiry;
Ø Your opinion (based on your character) about the status of Aboriginal persons/young people/women/migrants/refugees in (Western) Australia and your thoughts about what recommendations the Inquiry should make in its final report to parliament.
Remember: you can’t ‘take the Fifth’, but you can choose to give your evidence carefully (so as to avoid self-incrimination)…