“Without Fear or Favour?”

Wednesday, 28 October 2026, From 8am AEDT

Parliament Lawns, Nipaluna/Hobart

Vigil for Eden Westbrook as coroners gather in Hobart

Family and supporters of Eden Westbrook will hold a vigil on Parliament Lawns from 8am on Wednesday 28 October 2026, as the Asia Pacific Coroners Society conference meets in the city under the theme "Without fear or favour".

Eden was 15 when she died at St Helens in February 2015. Her family is asking the conference's delegates — many from psychology, mental health and medico-legal backgrounds — to look at how her death has been handled, and to ask whether it meets the standard their own conference has set.

Why the vigil, and why now

In September 2016, Coroner Olivia McTaggart, now Tasmania's Chief Coroner, handed down findings without an inquest into Eden's death. The police investigation those findings relied on was overseen, at the coroner's request, by Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds.

After his death, Reynolds was publicly revealed to be the subject of allegations of child sexual abuse spanning around three decades. The 2016 findings into the death of a child still stand.

At last year's conference in Melbourne, Chief Coroner McTaggart was a panellist in a session titled "Wellbeing Through the Coronial Investigation: Role Clarity, Compassion, and Purpose". The session defined compassion as "empathy + action + boundaries". Eden's family is still waiting for the action.

Eden's death has already changed Tasmanian law. After a campaign by her parents, Jason and Amanda Westbrook, Parliament amended the Coroners Act 1995 in December 2025. The new section 58C gives the senior next of kin a right to coronial records, including autopsy photographs, within 28 days. The family applied under the new section as soon as they could.

When the bill passed the House of Assembly, Attorney-General Guy Barnett said the family's "advocacy was born out of the tragic loss of Eden". Parliament has listened to this family. The family is asking the coroner to do the same.