The past year has been marked by consolidation and innovation for the Attorney General’s Department, with the Department remaining in a sound financial position and continuing to maintain and enhance operations. Significant progress has been made on a number of key programs and projects and new approaches adopted to some difficult issues. Greater participation from staff and stakeholders has also been sought as part of the process of improving our services.
The participation of judicial officers and representatives from justice agencies and client groups as members of strategic quality teams during the year represents an important extension of our Quality Program. It signifies the acceptance of a more collaborative and comprehensive approach to improving our processes and allows for a range of perspectives to be incorporated into the review process. The strategic teams are reviewing processes involved in areas such as civil litigation and criminal listings, as well as examining how court practices can be improved to assist people with disabilities. The establishment of these strategic teams recognises that the implementation of any changes to these processes will often require a coordinated approach from a number of agencies and perspectives.
Ten per cent of staff from across the Department have received training in quality management and participated in quality teams under our comprehensive Quality Program. More than eighty per cent of the recommendations from these teams have now been successfully implemented.
A number of initiatives have been introduced during the year to improve the operation of the State’s court system. The Case Management Fund has been successfully implemented and provides increased flexibility for the Department to allocate resources to the various court jurisdictions.
The allocation of additional judicial resources combined with proactive case management has been successful in reducing delays in the District Court, while the diversion of judicial sitting time from civil to criminal cases and additional judicial resources have also reduced delays in the Supreme Court.
The Department received additional funding for the Land and Environment Court for the appointment of an additional judge. Capital funding was also received for the remote transcription sound monitoring pilot program. Funds were also received for changes to the operation of the Children’s Court resulting from the Children and Young Persons (Repeal and Amendment) Act.
In other developments, a Drug Court has been operational at Parramatta Court since February 1999. The court, which is the first of its kind in NSW, was established to reduce the level of criminal activity that results from drug dependency. Non-violent, drug dependent offenders can participate in the program which allows their sentence to be suspended while they undertake rigorous, individualised programs that are designed to overcome their drug dependence. The Drug Court receives referrals from Local and District Courts in Western Sydney and is responsible for assessing the suitability of the referrals and admitting offenders into the program, as well as monitoring the progress of participants.
Additional new initiatives include the establishment of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT), which commenced operation in October 1998. The ADT provides a central and convenient way for people to obtain review of administrative decisions and have certain general complaints, such as discrimination and professional misconduct, resolved. This new initiative promotes high quality decision-making in the provision of government services and programs.
Major refurbishment and maintenance works have been completed on several key facilities during the year. Significant progress has also been made on the construction on a new court house at Toronto. Parking facilities for people with disabilities are now provided at over 110 courts across the State as part of the Department’s Disability Strategic Plan. Major building improvements were also completed at a number of locations to improve access to buildings and services.
The phased roll-out of information technology (IT) to selected courts and court services locations continued during the year as part of the six million dollar IT Infrastructure Project commenced in 1997. Local Area Networks have now been provided to 60 Local Courts across the State and computer facilities provided to 30 Sheriff’s Offices. There has also been a substantial upgrading of computer support provided to the judiciary and the District Court registries at Liverpool and Campbelltown Courts.
The Department has taken a significant step towards bringing technology into the courtroom this year with the commencement of a project establishing electronic courtrooms in the District and Supreme Courts. The courts will be fitted with video-link facilities, remote monitoring for transcription purposes and a document management system and are expected to be fully operational in late 1999. Video link facilities are already available in two courtrooms of the Compensation Court and Dust Diseases Tribunal, allowing witnesses to give evidence from a remote location.
The Department’s website, LawLink NSW, now provides the people of New South Wales with a central access point to legal resources and services. The site now contains over 15,000 pages of information. During 1998, the site was nominated as a semi-finalist in the Australian Internet Awards in two categories. A priority for the coming year will be to build upon the success of LawLink NSW as a client service initiative and allow clients to conduct appropriate transactions through the site.
A system for the preparation, management and publication of judgments is now in place for all courts except the Local and District Courts. This system, called CaseLaw NSW, provides a valuable resource that can be accessed through the Department’s website.
As part of a review of our corporate plan, we have refined our vision, purpose and goals to set the direction for the organisation into the next millennium. A focus of this review has been to develop measures which provide us with better information on our performance. This information will be used to ensure that we continue to operate at a high level of efficiency, effectiveness and good practice.
In conclusion, I acknowledge the considerable efforts of all judicial officers and staff for their commitment and support during the past year.