REPORT ON OPERATIONS MINISTRY OF JUSTICE • ANNUAL REPORT 2000/2001 To J A McGinty BA, BJuris (Hons), LLB, JP, MLA Attorney General Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs In accordance with Section 62 of the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1985, I hereby submit for your information and presentation to Parliament, the Annual Report of the Ministry of Justice for the year ending 30 June 2001. This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1985. Alan Piper Director General 31 August 2001 Ministry of Justice 141 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000 Telephone (08) 9264 1711 or 13 12 17 Justice Online: www.justice.wa.gov.au PAGE 1 CONTENTS MINISTRY OF JUSTICE • ANNUAL REPORT 2000/2001 CONTENTS Page no From the Director General ................................................................................................................3 About the Ministry............................................................................................................................5 The Ministry of Justice – vision, mission........................................................................................5 Corporate structure .......................................................................................................................6 Service locations – Perth ...............................................................................................................7 Service locations – Western Australia..............................................................................................8 The executive team .......................................................................................................................9 Our Year..........................................................................................................................................11 The Ministry in Brief .................................................................................................................11 Working with the community......................................................................................................17 Working across Government ........................................................................................................18 Ministry of Justice Advisory Council ............................................................................................18 2001 – International Year of Volunteers.......................................................................................19 Our customer service...................................................................................................................19 Our employees ............................................................................................................................20 Delivering on our promises .............................................................................................................23 Disability services plan................................................................................................................23 Language and cultural diversity...................................................................................................24 Family and domestic violence plan outcomes ................................................................................25 Plan for young people 2000-2003 ...............................................................................................25 Waste paper recycling ..................................................................................................................25 Public sector standards and ethical codes.........................................................................................26 Report on operations.......................................................................................................................29 Court Services ............................................................................................................................30 Crown Solicitor..........................................................................................................................34 Parliamentary Counsel................................................................................................................35 Offender Management and Prison Services ..................................................................................36 Public Advocate..........................................................................................................................47 Public Trust Office......................................................................................................................49 Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages .....................................................................................51 Policy and Legislation .................................................................................................................52 Corporate support areas...................................................................................................................55 Aboriginal Policy and Services .....................................................................................................56 Corporate Services.......................................................................................................................58 Public Affairs .............................................................................................................................60 Key performance indicators.............................................................................................................63 Financial statements ......................................................................................................................136 Appendices ....................................................................................................................................186 Expenditure incurred ................................................................................................................188 Contracts..................................................................................................................................189 Legislation administered............................................................................................................192 PAGE 2 Publications .............................................................................................................................196 FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL MINISTRY OF JUSTICE • ANNUAL REPORT 2000/2001 FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL After a very busy year at the Ministry of Justice, I am pleased with the changes that have occurred and the considerable gains achieved. However, I am also realistic about the challenges that still face us in the years ahead. Several large infrastructure projects were completed during the year, continuing our strategy of improving facilities to provide better access to justice services. The commissioning of new justice complexes at Fremantle, Rockingham and Busselton, the integrated Hakea Prison at Canning Vale and new Acacia Prison at Wooroloo are the result of research and planning that started several years ago. The new justice complexes are much more than courthouses alone. For the first time, they provide victims, offenders and witnesses with a full range of justice services in one location. The integrated approach is indicative of where justice services are heading in Western Australia. Possibly the most prominent new infrastructure project to be finalised in the financial year was Acacia Prison – the State’s first privately managed prison. Acacia opened in May 2001, with the first prisoners transferred shortly after. Also in the public eye in the past year was the introduction of private operators to manage court security and prisoner transport services. The project has been complex and challenging, with several escapes and unlawful releases early in the contract leading us to review procedures and practices. Equally as important in the delivery of services, but perhaps not as public, is the hard work in all areas of the Ministry to make services more efficient and effective. Smarter use of technology is central to many of the initiatives now making a difference to the way services are delivered. This year, we expanded our video-conferencing technology – improving services to customers in regional and remote areas and to prisoners held in custody a long distance from court or their families. We have come closer to finalising a new technology system across our courts which will, when implemented, increase efficiency. This ground-breaking system will enable electronic sharing of information with other agencies and will make working with external stakeholders – such as the legal profession – more efficient and convenient. The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages has also started developing a new electronic system to integrate all functions and introduce new customer services – such as online storage of birth, death and marriage records. And the Public Trust has invested in new web-enabled software in a bid to improve customer service. Other innovative projects, progressed during the year, represented new approaches to solving ongoing problems. The opening of a juvenile bail facility in the Kimberley heralded a new era in the containment of unsentenced juveniles. The facility eliminates the need to send juveniles to Perth for remand before sentencing, therefore allowing them to maintain valuable