Animal welfare groups fear their concerns will be ignored in a review of Tasmania's racing industry.
Last September, the Tasmanian government announced a review into the Racing Regulations Act and the two organisations that operate within its framework, the Office of Racing Integrity (ORI) and Tasracing.
It follows reports of dysfunction and low morale within the state's racing watchdog, the ORI.
The chief executive officer of RSPCA Tasmania said she was concerned the scope of the review was too narrow to consider issues with animal welfare.
"[Animal welfare] is buried there in the terms of reference and hopefully because it is one of the areas that is particularly lacking, hopefully we see a focus on animal welfare that we haven't seen to date from any of the racing codes," Jan Davis said.
Ms Davis said the organisation wanted to see improved transparency around issues with animal welfare in the industry at the forefront of the review.
"As it stands now we get told there is a lot of work being done about animal welfare but we have no independent evidence of that.
"[Tasracing] only reports publicly its consolidated figures in its annual report in arrears, not in real time, that's not good enough," Ms Davis said.
COVID pushes back timeline
For almost two decades the act governing the racing industry has not been significantly reviewed.
When completed, the review is expected to present Minister for Racing Jane Howlett with a recommended model to separate the integrity powers and functions between the integrity body — currently the director of racing at the ORI, and Tasracing.
The review also covers what additional powers are needed to safeguard animal welfare.
The timeline for consultation into the review has blown out, with the finished report no longer expected at the end of February.
The deadline for written submissions has been extended by two weeks and the report pushed back, due to "the pandemic" and "requests from stakeholders", a government spokesperson said.
Animal welfare groups, vets should be included, critics say
The RSPCA is one of 15 organisations that have so far provided a written submission. It has also taken part in face-to-face consultation about the review.
The Tasmanian Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds has also lodged a submission and is meeting with the reviewer this week but has voiced concern it would fail to deliver on improvements to animal welfare.
Director Natasha Langridge said any new framework to improve the integrity of the industry should include a committee with members from outside racing, to ensure welfare groups and veterinarians have input on policies and industry standards.
Animal welfare groups said they hoped the final report would result in a clear separation between Tasracing's management of racing activities and the ORI's oversight of animal welfare.
"There's no real clarity and no public accountability about those processes," Ms Davis said.
One of the changes being considered is to replace the head of the ORI, the director of racing, with a new position — the Tasmanian Racing Integrity Commissioner (TasRIC).
Natasha Langridge said it would be vital for the new position to be completely independent.
"If it is just simply a name change, it is not going to be enough," she said.
The review is being undertaken by the chairman of the board at Harness Racing Victoria, Dale Monteith.
The Tasmanian Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds said the review of the act should have been undertaken by someone independent of the industry.
"We do believe that is a significant conflict of interest, that somebody who does have an interest in the corporate side of racing is put at the head of an inquiry that should be focusing on welfare," Ms Langridge said.
In a statement, a government spokesperson said Mr Monteith was a "highly regarded expert" who had previously undertaken independent reviews in other Australian jurisdictions, and in Tasmania, including of the race track at Elwick.
Review a 'political fix', says Labor
Labor spokesperson Dean Winter said the industry had lost confidence in the ORI, particularly over the past year.
"The government has dressed this up as a review of the act but what it really is, is a review of all the problems that have plagued the industry," he said.
He described the relationship between industry participants and Tasracing and the ORI as very poor.
"If the Minister was serious about these issues she would include them in the terms of reference but they've been deliberately left out of the terms of reference so we can't get to the bottom of it," Mr Winter said.
In her submission, Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said it was clear the discussion paper was largely informed by racing industry participants.
"This is just a continuation of the industry's insular culture, and the lack of any independent oversight," she wrote.
"It is therefore concerning that a proposal for a model has been established before any consultation has taken place.
She said the process did not involve genuine consultation.
"This process appears designed to quickly bury any criticism of the industry, and ORI in particular, and to establish a new framework that the industry is comfortable with — rather than establishing a framework that meets community expectations."
Written submissions now close on February 4 and a further 23 consultations are scheduled for this week.
