Community Justice Centres
Director: Margie O’Tarpey
- Provides best practice mediation and related dispute resolution services.
- Transfers skills and knowledge in dealing with and resolving conflict to clients and communities.
Community Relations Division
Director: Lida Kaban
- Provides advice and services to the Attorney General and the Government, including responding to the concerns of members of the community.
- Acts as a contact point for members of the public who wish to raise questions with the Attorney General.
Legal Management Service
Director: Catherine Riordan
- Assists government agencies with managing their legal service requirements.
- Conducts reviews of legal service needs.
- Assists with the design of tender processes.
- Acts as an independent member of tender panels for the selection of legal service providers.
Legal Representation Office
Director: Chrissa Loukas
- Provides independent legal assistance and representation to people in relation to their involvement with the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Police Integrity Commission.
- Provides legal representation to people before Royal and Special Commissions of Inquiry.
- Represents families of the victims of the Thredbo disaster at the Coronial Inquest.
Public Defenders Office
Senior Public Defender: Terry Buddin, SC
- Provides legal representation to people who have been granted legal aid.
- Can be briefed by Aboriginal Legal Services, community legal centres, solicitors employed by the Legal Aid Commission or private solicitors.
State Debt Recovery Office
Director: Brian Robertson
- Provides a cost effective, whole of government approach to recovering outstanding fines, penalties and other debts.
- Administers the Government’s system for collecting outstanding fines and penalties.
Providing legal representation
The Department’s Legal Representation Office (LRO) provides independent legal assistance and representation to witnesses and other people involved in selected public inquiries.
This year, the LRO represented witnesses at a number of public inquiries held by the Police Integrity Commission. These included the inquiries into:
- The alleged involvement of police officers in security work and the supply of prohibited drugs;
- The alleged involvement of police officers in secondary employment;
- Allegations in relation to the investigation of the murder of Leigh Leigh; and
- The alleged preparation of police statements bearing false signatures.
The LRO provides legal assistance and representation to witnesses before the various public inquiries held by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. As part of this role, the LRO assisted witnesses before the inquiry into the relationship between Mr Paul Gibson and Mr Louis Bayeh. Assistance was also provided to witnesses before inquiries involving the:
- Department of Corrective Services;
- Environment Protection Agency;
- New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council; and
- Sydney City Council – Refuse Disposal Depot.
Specialist legal advice and representation is also provided by the LRO in relation to other inquiries. This year, the LRO represented the interests of families of 15 of the 18 victims of the Thredbo Landslide before the Coronial Inquest.
Through the Public Defenders Office, the Department provides professional legal representation to members of the public who have been granted legal aid in relation to serious criminal charges. While Public Defenders advise and represent indigent persons who have been granted legal aid by the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales or an Aboriginal Legal Service, the instructing solicitors may belong to the Legal Aid Commission or private practice. In the past two years Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) have been able to directly brief Public Defenders to appear for their clients.
During the year, the Public Defenders accepted 107 briefs for Aboriginal clients from Aboriginal Legal Services throughout the State. This substantial effort has been achieved through the provision of funding from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) for an ATSIC Higher Court Trial Project and the appointment of two Acting Public Defenders by the Attorney General’s Department.
Appearances by Public Defenders in the higher jurisdictions increased dramatically over the past two years. High Court of Australia special leave applications rose from none in 1997/98 to six in 1998/99. Court of Criminal Appeal appearances rose from 25 in 1997/98 to 83 in 1998/99.
The number of “trial” briefs completed by the Public Defenders in the District Court and Supreme Court (ie where the client intends to plead ‘not guilty’ or is uncertain of their plea) increased substantially over the past year. In the Supreme Court the number arose from 11 in 1997/98 to 61 in 1998/99. In the District Court the number of “trial” briefs completed rose from 184 in 1997/98 to 629 in 1998/99. During 1998/99, 370 briefs (“trial” and sentence) were the subject of appearances by Public Defenders in regional country areas and a further 147 trial briefs were conducted by Public Defenders in the Western Metropolitan area (Campbelltown, Liverpool, Penrith, Parramatta). By comparison the figures for 1997/98 were Country District Court 263, Western Metropolitan area 178.
A growing number of Public Defenders are accepting responsibility for overseeing the extended Placement Programmes run by the law schools at Sydney University and the University of Wollongong (three students in 1998). Almost weekly, one or two high school students are also participating in work experience programs designed and conducted by the Public Defenders.
A grant was also negotiated with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to enable an indigenous law student to read with a Public Defender to complete his training before admission to the bar. This grant will be taken up during the 1999/2000 financial year.
Table 1 sets out the briefs accepted by Public Defenders during 1998/99.
Providing advice and services to the Attorney General and Government
Information about the Department, the Attorney General and the NSW justice system is provided to the public by the Community Relations Division (CRD).
The CRD also advises the Attorney General in relation to the exercise of his statutory and common law powers. This role includes advice on:
- Submissions on the Royal prerogative of mercy;
- Remissions;
- Review of convictions under Part 13A of the Crimes Act 1900; and
- Ex gratia assistance for Ministers, Members of Parliament, government officers and members of the public to appear before various courts and commissions.
This year the CRD also provided advice in relation to applications for indemnity from prosecutions, extradition, the interstate transfer of prisoners, contempt of court, the execution and service of foreign documents and applications for exemption under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977.
CRD acts as a contact point for members of the public wishing to raise questions with the Attorney General. As part of this role, CRD dealt with 21,612 items of correspondence, including 13,312 items of Ministerial and Departmental correspondence during the year.
CRD assists the Attorney General in undertaking his responsibilities in relation to the Office of the Justice of the Peace. This year 2,681 new Justices of the Peace were appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Executive Council, while 3,232 existing Justices of the Peace applied for a duplicate certificate and registration number. A new Justice of the Peace handbook was also developed and distributed to 387 people. The CRD also advised the Attorney General on a Discussion Paper as part of a review of the appointment to, and regulation of, the Office of the Justice of the Peace.
Community Justice Centres and Local Courts established a joint working party during the year to encourage mediation as an initial course of action before taking disputes to court. This option provides a non-legal alternative for clients, reducing the demand on court services for matters such as neighbourhood disputes, small claims matters and apprehended personal violence orders.
The Department’s Legal Management Service (LMS) offers consultancy services to NSW government agencies which involve providing assistance to review legal service needs. The services provided by LMS include surveying and reporting on the best and most cost-effective ways agencies can obtain legal services.
During the year, LMS published the results of the 1998 Survey of Government Use of Legal Services, which was distributed to all agencies participating in the survey, together with a report for each agency on how its use of legal services and spending patterns compared to those of other agencies.
Improving client service
The Legal Representation Office widely distributed information pamphlets about its services during the year. In addition, the Director and solicitors presented papers at College of Law seminars designed to assist legal practitioners appearing for clients at the Police Integrity Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Community Justice Centres (CJC) implemented a number of strategies this year to ensure their services accessible to people and communities. These strategies included:
- Distributing information brochures which are available in eighteen community languages;
- Providing cross cultural training to staff to help them assist clients from a non-English speaking background; and
- Conducting community conferencing with Aboriginal and ethnic communities.
A number of promotional activities were introduced by CJC during the year to increase client and community awareness. These included developing a number of videos, reviewing current brochures, presenting conference papers and conducting media interviews.
The Community Relations Division (CRD) improves access to departmental services for clients living outside the metropolitan areas with its toll free feedback telephone number. The number is 1800 684 449.
CRD held focus groups and surveyed business units during the year on the development of a complaint handling and client feedback system with a view to standardising complaint handling procedures throughout the Department.
CRD improved its client service to people with a hearing impairment by increasingly using its telephone typewriter (TTY) service. The TTY service enables people with a hearing disability to communicate directly with officers of the Department. (A full list of TTY numbers appears in appendix one of this report). A new switchboard system was also introduced.
The Legal Management Service (LMS) co-sponsored a seminar in February 1999 on Legal Issues in Tendering. Speakers delivered papers about the legal, probity, and practical aspects of tendering, particularly tendering for legal services. 80 people participated in the seminar, which was positively evaluated by attendees.
LMS continued to provide information to government agencies concerning consultants able to undertake reviews of legal service needs and assist with tender processes via the Register of Legal Management Consultants set up in 1997/98. It also made presentations to government and private sector lawyers at meetings, seminars and conferences, aimed at raising awareness of current issues in tendering for legal services, and assisting government agencies to obtain the best value for money in legal services.
Managing disputes
Community Justice Centres (CJC) manages a wide range of disputes including neighbourhood disputes, conflict in and between family members, young people in conflict and disputes between communities and organisations.
The CJC made exciting progress with technology assisted mediation, offering opportunities for a limited mediation service to remote areas and people isolated by distance or disability by use of teleconferencing. Some mediations were also provided in regional parts of NSW.
The CJC enhanced its response to apprehended personal violence orders. Effective referral procedures were established and a pre-mediation and intake ‘Conference Interview Format’ was developed in dispute matters where clients may be vulnerable.
Providing debt recovery services to the Government
The State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO) was established within the Department in 1998 to provide a cost-effective, whole-of-government approach to the recovery of outstanding fines, penalties and other debts. This year, SDRO recovered $53 million in outstanding fines and enforcement fees.
Each month, SDRO handled on average, 23,000 telephone calls and more than 1,000 written communications and emails. Additional resources were allocated to this service to ensure the timely and fair resolution of inquiries.
The SDRO provided detailed information about the fine enforcement system using the Department’s Internet website. The site offered clients the facility to download forms and documents and to contact SDRO via email.
While SDRO recovered substantial numbers of outstanding fines, it also improved payment options available to fine defaulters. Payments for fines can now be made by post, through an ANZ locked bag facility, in person at any Australia Post office and by agreed “Time To Pay” instalments.
A strength of the new fine enforcement system is that it provides a service to fine defaulters in genuine financial difficulties. This system allows for responsible debt management over a reasonable period of time.
SDRO also provided general debt recovery services to other government departments and agencies during the year.
The year ahead
Community Justice Centres will:
- Review resources to meet the increasing demands of disputes in rural areas which occur outside CJC boundaries;
- Formalise partnerships with key government agencies to both manage the increased number of referrals and improve client service through service agreements;
- Undertake an organisational review of the service delivery model for mediation services and coverage to rural and regional areas. The report, including implementation strategies, will be presented to Council in September;
- Explore and develop options with other agencies for provision of service to the ATSI community and develop appropriately enhanced response procedures to Apprehended Violence Orders; and
- Review the role of and support for mediators, including remuneration and travel costs.
In the year to come, Community Relations Division will:
- Finalise the Department’s complaint handling protocol, to act effectively on client service issues as they arise;
- Continue to review procedures for dealing with ministerial correspondence. New software has been commissioned and will be installed; and
- Develop education programs for other business units and the community concerning divisional and departmental functions.
The priorities of the Legal Management Service will include:
- Updating and distributing guidelines on reviewing and outsourcing government legal services;
- Organising further training for government lawyers; and
- Investigating the outsourcing of government legal services in other jurisdictions.
The Legal Representation Office will focus on:
- Continuing to provide high quality specialist legal assistance and representation to people appearing before the Police Integrity Commission, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and for the families of the victims of the Thredbo disaster at the Coronial Inquest; and
- Undertaking other representation as directed by the Attorney General.
The Public Defenders will:
- Continue to provided expert representation to indigent people who have received a grant of Legal Aid or who are represented by an Aboriginal or Community Legal Service; and
- Implement practices which will maximise the use of the expertise of individual Public Defenders through greater use of shared resources and information technology.
In the coming year the State Debt Recovery Office will:
- Continue to enforce historical matters which were transferred from the Roads and Traffic Authority and the Warrant Index Unit when SDRO was established;
- Improve SDRO’s ability to locate debtors and increase the level of debt recovery through inter agency cooperation;
- Increase enforcement activity by effectively using all stages of the fine enforcement process; and
- Continue to advertise and market the General Recovery Services of the Office across the whole structure of NSW and Local Government Departments and agencies.
Table 1
