Anet, Peter
Deputy Crown Solicitor, BA, LLB

Cox, Russell
Director, Management Services
B Com.

Curry, Gregory
Director, Executive and Strategic Services
MBA (Executive), B.App.Sc.(Mathematics), M.Stats.

Flett, Barbara
Director, Reporting Services Branch
BA(Hons), MBA

Gabb, Ken*
Practice Manager, Crown Solicitor’s Office LLB

Glanfield, Laurie
Director General, BA, LLB(Hons)

Grant, Bill
Deputy Director General, LLB

Hennessy, Peter
Executive Director, Law Reform Commission, LIB (WA), B Ec. (ANU)

Homel, Peter
Director, Crime Prevention Division
BA(Hons) (Psychology), MA (Latin American Studies)

Inga, Giulia
Principal Courts Administrator Compensation Court, BA, LLB

Johnston, Nerida
Chief Executive Officer, Supreme Court
LLB

Kaban, Lida
Director, Community Relations Division
Dip. Law (BAB)

Knight, Ian
Crown Solicitor, BA, LLB

Kuti, Andrew
Director, Financial Services Branch
BEc, CPA, ASIA

Le Breton, John
Director, Office of the Public Guardian

McGrath Timothy
Principal Courts Administrator/Industrial Registrar, Industrial Relations Commission
LLB

Mark, Steve
Legal Services Commissioner, LLB

O’Toole, Philip
Director, Estate Management, Office of the Protective Commissioner and Public Guardian

Puplick Chris
President Anti-Discrimination Board
BA(Hons), MA

Robertson, Brian
Director State Debt Recovery Office
B Com.

Ruse, Paul
Regional Co-ordinator, Northern Region, Local Courts, LLB

Ryan, Peter**
Deputy Director, Local Courts
Dip. Law (BAB)

Stacey, Trevor
Registrar, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

Tangney, Maureen
Director Legislation and Policy, BA, LLB

Vernon, Claire
Director, Victims Services
B Social Work

Weatherburn, Don
Director, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, BA(Hons) (Psychology), Ph.D

Wotton, Claude
Principal Courts Administrator, District Court
* Acting as Protective Commissioner and Public Guardian
** Acting as Director Local Courts



STATEMENT OF PERFORMANCE

Laurie Glanfield
Director General

SES Level 7 ($265,410 p.a. plus $18,000 performance payment*)

During 1999-2000, the Director General continued his commitment to improving court services in NSW, with the development of the Strategic Framework for Court Services 2000 –2004, in consultation with the Heads of Jurisdictions, Principal Courts Administrators and other Business Centre Managers. The Framework identifies key priorities and initiatives planned for the courts and the Department and will serve as a guide to driving reforms in court and tribunal services in NSW.

The plan includes the implementation of Model Key Performance Indicators for NSW Courts which have been developed and published. The indicators are intended to provide a simple, clear and comprehensive picture of court performance thereby assisting in the allocation of resources and the planning of initiatives to reduce delays.

The Director General has also continued to champion process re-engineering, with a particular focus on improvements in court processes to reduce delays. A number of significant gains have been made, for example:

§ Listing practices in the District Court have been improved following the introduction of a List Judge and improved consultative mechanisms. New listing practices have also been adopted to reduce the rate of cases not reached. Criminal time standards commenced in the District Court Sydney West in January 2000.
§ A streamlined method of Criminal Listing of Summary Matters has been successfully piloted.
§ A streamlined process for handling paper flow in relation to appeals between the Local Court and the District Court has been settled and will be implemented by December 2000.
§ Strategies to improve in court procedures and practices to assist people with disabilities have been incorporated into the Department’s Disability Strategic Plan 2000 – 2002.
§ Agreement has been reached with the Chief Magistrate to implement more flexible sitting hours, staggered listing in the criminal jurisdiction and a review of country circuits to ensure optimum use of magistrates’ time.

Advances have been made in the use of technology in courts. Two technology court rooms were installed in the District and Supreme Courts, featuring facilities for video-conferencing, document management and real time computer assisted transcription. These technologies were utilised in the Thredbo Inquiry and the Glenbrook Rail Inquiry. Remote witness facilities (Closed Circuit TVs) have been implemented in 59 courts making a total of 94 systems in 62 courthouses.

Client service was also enhanced through the Department’s website, LawLink. The value of the site is particularly evident in the huge growth in usage. Last calendar year, Lawlink NSW registered a six fold growth in the number of pages viewed per month (from 220, 000 to 1.2 million; and for the month of April this year, over 1.9 million pages were viewed). The site has been regularly rated as one of the top three legal websites in Australia and is the most popular NSW government site. Over 75% of LawLink's customers are from within Australia and, based on the LawLink NSW feedback survey, over 23% of customers are from within rural and regional NSW.

Lawlink NSW has been improved and expanded to better meet customer needs: CaseLaw NSW now contains over 4000 judgments from the NSW Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Court of Criminal Appeal, Land and Environment Court, Industrial Relations Commission and Administrative Decisions Tribunal. Recently a history of the NSW legal system was added for students and historians and DVLink was in March 2000 providing an online resource for professionals working in the domestic violence sector.

Commitment to improving physical access to Departmental services was strong focus over the year. Dedicated accessible parking facilities are now provided at 110 Courts across the State. Major improvements aimed at promoting access to our buildings and services were also completed at the Industrial Relations Commission, the John Maddison Tower and a number of Local Courts. In addition, two District Court rooms now provide access for people with disabilities to fully participate in the judicial process including participation as a jury member. A new courthouse was completed at Toronto and extensions to Court facilities at Waverley and Bega and the refurbishment of Court 3 at Darlinghurst were also completed. Conservation and maintenance works were also undertaken at a number of other locations. A range of security enhancements were undertaken at the courts including works to complete installations of duress alarms at all courts.

A number of initiatives have been developed and implemented in partnership with key agencies in accordance with government directives arising from the NSW Drug Summit. A Drug Crime Diversion Program has been established and an evaluation of the Adult Drug Court is under way. The Youth Drug Court and the Lismore Court Magistrates Early Intervention Trial have also commenced.

Significant reforms in many areas of the law have been undertaken over the course of the year. These include:

§ Criminal Procedure (Sexual Assault Communication Privilege) Act 1999, which clarified and expanded the privilege that could be claimed with respect to the confidences given and received in the course of sexual assault counselling.
§ Local Courts Amendment (Part-Time Magistrates Act) 1999, which amended the Local Courts Act 1982 to make specific provision for the appointment of part-time magistrates.
§ Professional Standards Amendment Act 1999, which provides that a limited liability scheme which has been approved by the Professional Standards Council can provide for members of an occupational association to opt out of the scheme.
§ Crimes and Courts Legislation Amendment Act 1999 to create the offences of intimidatory use of vehicles and vessels and “offences involving prostitution” and to allow the Young Offenders Act 1997 to be applied as an alternative to the issuing of penalty notices in certain circumstances.
§ Electronic Transactions Act 2000, which facilitates electronic commerce and provides for the authentication of digital signatures.
§ Evidence (Audio and Visual Links) Amendment Act 2000, which allows for evidence to be taken by video link.
§ Protected Estates Amendment (Investment) Act 2000, which amends the investment powers of the Office of the Protective Commissioner in light of the amendments to the Trustee Act 1925 introducing the prudent person rule.
§ Supreme Court Amendment (Referral of Proceedings) Act 2000, which permits proceedings in equity to be referred to arbitration and for proceedings (other than criminal proceedings) to be referred to mediation or neutral conciliation without the consent of the parties.
§ Victims Compensation (Amendment) Act 2000, which contains amendments arising from the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on victims compensation.
§ Legal Profession Amendment (Solicitors Mortgage Practices) Act 2000, which reviews the legislative provisions relating to the regulation of solicitors’ mortgage practices.
§ Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Carers’ Responsibility) Act 2000, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities.
§ Administrative Decisions Tribunal Amendment Act 2000, which merges further tribunals into the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) and confers jurisdiction on the ADT with respect to surveyors and architects and creates a revenue division.

The Director General has continued to foster a culture of effective leadership and a productive, motivated workforce throughout the organisation.

More than 170 managers attended two-day conferences designed to enhance their leadership skills. Bi-monthly senior managers’ meetings and managers’ forums were conducted throughout the year and staff continued to receive a monthly newsletter.

An employee survey of staff satisfaction and motivation was conducted in October 1999. The information gathered has been used to develop corporate and business centre plans, including a Human Resources Strategy focussing on improvements to merit recruitment and selection practices, career planning, work exchange/placement, performance planning and development, rewards and recognition and management and leadership development.

To facilitate communication within the organisation a Department wide intranet site, InfoLink, was developed. The new service provides staff with a central point of access to information and services from any point on the Department's wide area network. It incorporates an online searchable phone book for the Department, access to current legislation and Case Law, up to date policies, procedures and circulars, as well as general news and information items to enhance a sense of community among staff.
InfoLink NSW now has between 1800 to 2000 individual staff members visiting the site each month (from a total of 2700 staff with access to the Intranet), with over 189,500 pages viewed in Infolink NSW in May, 2000 alone.

Greater access to both business applications and communication facilities has been provided for Local Courts staff. Seventy metropolitan and regional courts have Local Area Networks and all NSW magistrates now have Internet capable laptops. New Intranet connections were also provided to 70 Local Courts and the offices of 17 Violence Against Women Regional Specialists.

The Department remains in a sound financial position in accordance with expected results.

In the year ahead the Director General will further advance key client service and corporate reform initiatives and continue to build a flexible, client focussed organisation with a motivated, skilled and productive workforce.



Ian Knight
Crown Solicitor

SES Level 6 ($210,985 p.a. plus $7,000 performance payment*)

During the year the Crown Solicitor prepared or supervised the preparation of numerous and diverse legal advisings for clients including advisings relating to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, the Police Commissioner’s contract of employment, the City of Sydney Council Election, the Aboriginal Land Council Election, production of documents to the Legislative Council, affordable housing, racial vilification and the internet, employment screening, additional entitlements of members of Parliament, Codes of Conduct for Parliamentarians, class actions against tobacco manufacturers, the Parliamentary Review of the Protected Disclosures Act 1994 and the Nutrasweet litigation.

The Crown Solicitor provided a number of advisings to the Auditor General pursuant to s. 33 of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 and they are annexed to his reports to Parliament.

The Crown Solicitor appeared as a witness before a Legislative Council inquiry into the provision for certain payments to the Police Commissioner in his contract of employment. The Crown Solicitor had provided an advising to the Auditor General which addressed the validity of the contractual provisions.

An interdepartmental committee, to which the Crown Solicitor was appointed, was established to examine litigation against tobacco manufacturers to recover costs incurred in treating diseases caused by exposure to tobacco products. The Standing Committee of Attorneys General has referred the possibility of such litigation to Australian and New Zealand Crown Solicitors for examination. The Crown Solicitor has been appointed to a Working Group which has had meetings in Brisbane and Sydney.

The Crown Solicitor attended the annual conference of Australian and New Zealand Crown Solicitors in Hobart.

During the year the Crown Solicitor changed the format of legal advisings for the greater assistance of clients.

The Crown Solicitor continued to edit the Client Newsletter which is distributed approximately every two months to clients and State officials to inform them of recent decisions and legal developments. Very positive feedback is being received in relation to the service provided by the Client Newsletter. During the year the Crown Solicitor updated its appearance and changed the format to make it easier to read.

In the absence of the Practice Manager, who is acting as the Protective Commissioner and Public Guardian, the Crown Solicitor had to assume a greater involvement in the administration of the CSO during the year.

The CSO continued to operate successfully on a commercial basis and has achieved a provisional operating surplus of $721,480 which should result in a dividend of $505,000 being paid to Treasury.

The Crown Solicitor has driven performance planning and development in the CSO. The position has now been reached that all solicitors have had personal plans prepared which identify the accountabilities of their positions and the required outcomes. Training and Development plans have been prepared to assist each solicitor with job performance and career development. As part of this exercise the Crown Solicitor supported and encouraged the second annual staff organised CSO conference which this year focussed on career development.

The employment of solicitor advocates in the CSO to provide cost effective advocacy services for clients in appropriate matters has been a project driven by the Crown Solicitor and this year saw the appointment of three solicitor advocates who will appear primarily in matters involving criminal, public interest immunity, employment and tort law.

The Crown Solicitor also drove the preparation of a CSO Staff Policies and Procedures Manual which has now been published. This manual should greatly assist new and existing staff with policies and procedures applying across the CSO.

Ken Gabb
Acting Protective Commissioner and Public Guardian (since 22 December 1999)

Acting SES Level 5 ($152,670 p.a.)

During the second half of 1999-2000 the OPC identified the following six projects as matters of high priority:

1. introduction of the prudent person principle
2. review of fees charged
3. implementation of a new structure
4. implementation of the GST requirements
5. implementation of internal audit and fraud prevention review recommendations
6. development of improved information technology applications.

Each of these projects has continuing importance in 2000-01.

1. Introduction of the prudent person principle

The OPC has committed itself to the provision, by the year 2001, of appropriate investment options for those clients who may benefit from more diversified investments. In 1999/2000 significant steps were taken towards the achievement of this goal. Financial forecasts for over 4,000 of the OPC’s 7,100 clients were developed in the latter part of 1999/2000. These forecasts account for more than 80 per cent of liquid funds under OPC management. It is anticipated the remaining forecasts will be completed before the end of this calendar year.

The creation of a financial planning unit within the OPC was approved by the Director General in May 2000 and recruitment action commenced.

A tender was issued for the acquisition of new financial management applications to support a diversified investment strategy. Implementation of the chosen application is also scheduled for completion before the end of this calendar year.

2. Review of fees charged

As a result of a Performance Audit Report on our Complaints and Review Processes by the Audit Office in September 1999, the OPC commenced a review of the fees it charges for services. In accordance with two of the report’s recommendations, the OPC will use the fee review as the foundation for becoming fully reliant for its funding on its prescribed fees, which are to be regularly reviewed by an independent body for reasonableness and justification. The review is scheduled for completion before the end of 2000.

3. Implementation of a new structure
A restructure process commenced in March 2000 with the seeking of OPC staff input and culminated in a draft proposal being submitted to the Director General at the end of June.

4. Implementation of the GST Requirements
The OPC Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation team, with the assistance of Deakin Consulting, worked throughout the 1999-2000 year to ensure that OPC was ready for the introduction of the GST. The work of the implementation team was rewarded on 28 June 2000, when the Federal Treasurer released his determination that the management fees charged by OPC would not be subject to the imposition of the GST. This outcome, which was pursued strongly by OPC’s implementation team after initial rejection, represents a significant measure of taxation relief for OPC’s clients because OPC’s management fees do not have to be increased to include a GST component.

5. Review of internal audit and fraud prevention
Early in 2000, the Attorney General’s Department commissioned Arthur Andersen to review internal audit and fraud prevention policies and procedures within OPC. The review was prompted by the discovery by OPC of fraud by two OPC officers. The final report was provided to OPC in May. The review recommendations were accepted by OPC and an implementation plan was agreed. In conjunction with the ICAC, a course in the principles of ethical practice (“Conduct Becoming”) was developed for all staff. The OPC executive was briefed and senior staff attended the course in June. Other staff will attend the course in the early months of 2000-01. Other review recommendations will be implemented during 2000-01.

6. Development of improved information technology applications
Steady progress was made during 1999-2000 with the adoption of a contemporary computing environment (NT/SQL) to replace OPC’s aged proprietary Client Information System. Modules to streamline the payment of cheques and allowances and an improved diary facility were implemented.

* Criteria for determining performance payments:

· Provide Director General/Minister with frank advice that is relevant, accurate and timely.
· Keep Director General/Minister fully informed on critical or agreed matters within the cost centre.
· Manage key interfaces affecting the business centre/Department (eg major customer groups, stakeholders, other agencies.
· Ensure the actions and policies of the business centre/Department accord with Departmental/Government directions and facilitate policy coordination and cohesion between cost centres and other government agencies.
· Ensure legislative and statutory compliance within cost centre.
· Ensure that good employment principles and practices operate within the cost centre and that people management reflects equity and occupational health and safety principles.
· Maintain effective corporate, personnel, financial and performance management planning and reporting within the business centre/Department.
· Deliver specific projects and programs within agreed financial and staffing resource level.
· Ensure satisfactory introduction and operation of internal controls and reporting within the business centre/Department.

• · Personal contribution made to the overall organisational achievement (value added).