A Supreme Court decision has delayed the Hillcrest jumping castle inquest.

Tasmania’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of WorkSafe Tasmania's decision to withhold a report related to the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy, further delaying the coronial investigation into the incident that claimed the lives of six Tasmanian children nearly two years ago.

The tragedy resulted in the loss of six children's lives while left three others injured when a sudden gust of wind sent an inflatable jumping castle airborne during end-of-year festivities at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport.

Earlier this year, Coroner Olivia McTaggart expressed her inability to proceed with the inquest due to the absence of the investigation report from WorkSafe Tasmania. WorkSafe cited concerns about potentially prejudicing future prosecutions under health and safety laws as the reason for not sharing the report.

The matter was taken to the Supreme Court to challenge the coroner's request for access to the documents. 

Justice Geason, in his recent ruling, stated that disclosure of the identified records could hinder the effective investigation of potential offences by Work Health Safety and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. 

He said there would be potential harm to the public interest if the documents were disclosed prematurely.

The documents sought by the coroner included an expert report from an engineering firm, along with interviews and written responses from the owner and operator of the jumping castle, an alleged joint owner and operator, and Hillcrest Primary School staff.

Justice Geason acknowledged the competing interests of the coronial investigation in making recommendations and WorkSafe Tasmania's role in potential prosecutions. 

He concluded that disclosure of the documents to the coroner could undermine the ongoing investigative and prosecutorial processes, favouring the prosecutor's claim.

WorkSafe's work health and safety regulator, Robyn Pearce, says it is important to maintain confidentiality until a decision on prosecutions is made. She expects a decision regarding potential prosecutions to be reached in the coming weeks.

Coroner McTaggart had initially hoped to conduct the inquest in the first half of 2023 but was unable to proceed without access to expert opinions and engineering reports.