Tasmania’s anti-discrimination commissioner Robin Banks has in her final report recommended that the state implements a dedicated scheme to erase historical convictions for consensual sexual activity between adult men.

The report recommends establishing a three-person panel made up of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, the registrar of the Working with Vulnerable People Registration Scheme and the dean of law at the University of Tasmania to review applications from men who want their criminal record expunged.

The panel would work with and seek information from the Tasmania Police.

Banks said it would be an important step in removing stigma for people who have a conviction simply because they’re gay and as they continue to face discrimination.

‘They wouldn’t face potential discrimination in employment, in volunteering, in a whole lot of other things as a result of what was a historic record,’ she was quoted as saying by ABC Radio Australia.

Tasmania became the last Australian state to decriminalize sex between consenting adult males in private in 1997.

South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria already have similar schemes to review and expunge criminal records of a similar nature.

Banks says setting up the scheme is an urgent priority for Tasmania as those having criminal records are ‘still of working age for whom this is a continuing effect on their capacity to go and look for work.’

Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson Rodney Croome has also called on the state government to work fast.

‘Expungement legislation has already passed in three states and is close in two more, so I urge the State Government to act quickly to ensure Tasmania isn’t last again,’ referring to Tasmania being the last Australian state to repeal its laws against homosexuality.

The commission also recommended the government issues a formal apology to people who have suffered because of actions by authorities resulting in a historical criminal record.