Department of Justice Annual Report 2017-2018
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Annual Report 2017/18 Statement of Compliance Mail: GPO Box F317 PERTH WA 6841 Phone: 9264 1600 Web: www.justice.wa.gov.au ISSN: 1837-0500 (Print) ISSN: 1838-4277 (Online) Hon John Quigley MLA Hon Francis Logan MLA Attorney General Minister for Corrective Services In accordance with Section 61 of the Financial Management Act 2006, I hereby submit for your information and presentation to Parliament, the Annual Report of the Department of Justice for the financial year ended 30 June 2018. This Annual Report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Management Act 2006. Dr Adam Tomison Director General Department of Justice 19 September 2018 The Department of Justice chose this artwork “Seven Sisters Standing In a Line” to be the front cover of its inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan. Painted by a prisoner from Boronia Pre-Release Centre for Women, it also represents this year’s NAIDOC Week theme – “Because of Her, We Can.” This is how the artist describes the painting: “When I was a girl I slept out under the stars and that’s when I learned about a group of stars called the seven sisters. The seven sisters is one of my favourite stories. The seven sisters are women that are attacked many times on their way across country. But they fight back and escape to the night sky to become stars. The women of the story are strong and free and make me think of how strong Aboriginal women are.” Department of Justice // Annual Report 2017/18 2 Contents Overview of the Agency ................................................................................................... 4 Key Performance Indicators ........................................................................................ 124 Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... 4 Disclosures and Legal Compliance ........................................................................... 153 Operating Locations ........................................................................................................ 6 Governance Disclosures .............................................................................................. 153 Acts Administered ........................................................................................................... 6 Major Capital Works ................................................................................................... 154 Strategic Framework ....................................................................................................... 7 Customer Feedback ..................................................................................................... 154 Organisational Structure ................................................................................................. 8 Employment and Industrial Relations ......................................................................... 154 Performance Management Framework .......................................................................... 9 Other Legal Requirements ........................................................................................... 156 Agency Performance ...................................................................................................... 10 Code of Conduct .......................................................................................................... 156 Financial Summary ........................................................................................................ 10 Compliance with Sector Standards and Ethical Codes .............................................. 156 Financial Targets ........................................................................................................... 10 Corruption Prevention ................................................................................................. 156 Key Performance Indicators .......................................................................................... 11 Records and Compliance ............................................................................................. 156 Corrective Services ....................................................................................................... 12 Recordkeeping Plan ..................................................................................................... 157 Court and Tribunal Services .......................................................................................... 22 Advertising and Allied Expenditure ............................................................................ 158 Commissioner for Victims of Crime .............................................................................. 30 Freedom of Information ............................................................................................... 159 Advocacy, Guardianship and Administration Services ................................................. 31 Disability Access and Inclusion Planning ................................................................... 159 Trustee Services ............................................................................................................ 32 Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages .................................................................... 34 Government Policy Requirements .............................................................................. 162 Services to Government ................................................................................................ 37 Substantive Equality .................................................................................................. 162 Managing our Assets .................................................................................................... 50 Reconciliation Action Plan .......................................................................................... 162 Managing our People .................................................................................................... 54 OSH and Injury Management ...................................................................................... 163 Significant Issues Impacting on the Agency .............................................................. 56 Appendix 1 - Acts Administered through the Department ..................................... 164 Financial Statements ...................................................................................................... 58 Department of Justice // Annual Report 2017/18 3 Executive Summary The Department of Justice administers the State’s justice system and works towards making our community a fairer and safer place to live. The Department has approximately 6,500 staff and a budget This has included making better use of policy assets Our courts and tribunals experienced increased demand and of $1.4 billion, and the justice-related services it provides and other areas of the Department of Justice to develop there has been an increase in sentenced prisoners in our to the people of Western Australia are many and varied – legislation, and by creating opportunities at Courts, in custodial facilities and in community corrections. from registering a birth, administering the State’s courts, Corrective Services and out in remote communities, to In April 2018 we reached 6,957 adult prisoners housed in providing legal advice and legislative drafting, guardianship better assist people to obtain their personal identification our prisons – the highest prisoner numbers on record. and trustee services, helping Aboriginal people gain their documentation produced by the Registry of Births, Deaths A key focus during the financial year was to therefore drivers’ licence, recouping outstanding fines, managing a and Marriages. develop new infrastructure plans and to obtain funding rapidly growing prison population, developing new drug and Overall, I believe the Department is developing in the right to provide for more prison beds and court facilities and to alcohol rehabilitation programs for offenders, to monitoring direction and is harnessing the opportunities presented by deliver more services. and managing offenders in the community. our new organisational structure. In collaboration with the WA Police Force we have begun Greater collaboration Increasing demand for services the development of a new $78.8 million police and justice complex for the Armadale community, which will bring local The year 2017/18 was our first full year of operation as Of great credit to our staff is that these changes took place police and court staff together on a single co-located site. the Department of Justice, formed as part of the State while we experienced a substantial increase in service In December 2017, the State Government announced government’s Machinery of Government changes. demand across all work areas while leading significant $120 million to fund an additional 884 prison beds, which The aim of the merger between the former Departments policy and practice reforms for the sector. includes an immediate 212 bed increase across the prison of the Attorney General and Corrective Services was to This was the case for the Public Trustee and the Office estate and 672 beds and infrastructure upgrades at allow a more “joined up”, seamless approach to justice, of the Public Advocate, who continued to experience Casuarina and Bunbury prisons by the end of 2019. from an accused person’s first contact with the courts and, an increase in demand for services, due in part