The NSW State Parole Authority's move to prioritise 'victim privacy' will have a impact on community safety, according to an advocate for the family of a murdered Tumut toddler.
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The State Parole Authority publishes only a handful of its decisions on releasing prisoners or denying parole per year despite holding hearings on most business days.
Victim advocate Howard Brown has represented the family of a Tumut toddler as they fought to prevent her murder, Douglas James Wade, from gaining parole at multiple hearings over the years.
Mr Brown said he was concerned that other families and victims from less notorious cases were not benefiting from public scrutiny of parole decisions.
"Other families don't have representatives or someone with experience in the system to advocate on their behalf and make sure the details are provided without identifying them," he said.
"Often it is important for a community to know that there is a sex offender in the area.
"You can do that without identifying the victim, but when these decisions are not published, how do people know?"
Wade, now aged 56, sexually assaulted and murdered a 22-month-old girl he was babysitting in Tumut in 1988.
Wade, who worked as a shearer at the time, was given a life sentence in 1989, later reduced to a minimum of 26 years on appeal in 2013.
Wade has been denied parole five times but he has the chance to begin another parole application process in June.
The Tumut family cannot be named for legal reasons.
Mr Brown said it was unlikely that Wade would ever be granted parole without gaining public attention but he was advocating for victims of other serious sex offenders who applied for parole with no publicity.
A State Parole Authority spokeswoman said the authority published "summaries of decisions that are known to be of interest, where they are available".
"Determinations from review hearings are provided to registered victims, where requested," she said.
"The Chairperson notes that there are issues of privacy, protecting both the victim and the offender, which need to be considered in relation to the publication of all decisions made by the Authority.
"The Authority is investigating ways within these parameters to provide relevant information to interested members of the public."
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