2009-2010 Annual Report MSWORD - NSW Department of Justice

CONTENTS

Letter of Submission to Ministers

Who we are

Our Vision

Director General's Foreword

Our Strategic Commitments

Corporate Governance

Organisation chart



Letter of Submission to Ministers

The Hon John Hatzistergos, MLC

The Hon Phillip Costa, MP Attorney General

Minister for Corrective Services GPO Box 5341

Level 34, Governor Macquarie Tower SYDNEY NSW 2001

1 Farrer Place

Sydney NSW 2001



Dear Ministers

I have pleasure in presenting to you the annual report of the Department of
Justice and Attorney General of New South Wales for the 2009/10 financial
year.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Annual Reports
(Departments) Act 1985 and the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 (NSW) for
presentation to Parliament.

Over the past year, the Department has been especially committed to
improving client service, increasing the skills and performance of staff
and implementing innovative programs to provide greater access to justice
for the people of NSW.

The achievements outlined in this report reflect the dedication and
commitment of the Department's staff and the NSW Judiciary.



Your faithfully



Laurie Glanfield

Director General Department of Justice and Attorney General



Who we are

As part of the Government's ongoing public sector reform, the Attorney
General's Department and Department of Corrective Services were amalgamated
on 1 July 2009 to form the Department of Justice and Attorney General
(DJAG).

The role of the Attorney General's Division of DJAG is to:

. Manage and support the state's court registries and legal jurisdictions

. Implement crime prevention programs and support victims of crime

. Provide accurate research data, legal and policy advice to the NSW
Government and the community

. Provide legal advice and representation to the NSW Government and its
agencies, and

. Offer trustee, adult guardianship, financial management and legal
services at minimum cost to the community.

The role of the Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) Division of DJAG is to
provide:

. Custodial and community based correctional services having regard to
community safety

. Programs and services that reduce risks of re-offending

. Pre and post-sentence reports to assist sentencing and releasing
authorities, and

. Community-based sentencing options and support arrangements to offenders
in custody and in the community.

DJAG also works closely with the following related justice agencies:

. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP)

. Legal Aid NSW

. The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC).


Our Vision

DJAG contributes to a just and safe society for:


The Community

. Satisfaction with justice and legal services

. Protection of rights

. Containment of inmates and correctional centre security

. Effective supervision and monitoring of offenders in the community

. Public safety (crime prevention) and management of offenders

. Supporting vulnerable participants in the justice system

. Efficient use of resources.


Clients

. Equitable access to justice and legal services

. Access to alternative dispute resolution

. Timely and cost effective services

. Access to effective intervention and treatment programs.


Offenders

. Innovative and effective program and service solutions for offenders

. Development of relevant and appropriate diversionary strategies.


Staff

. Dignity, respect and equity

. Opportunities to develop skills and knowledge

. Recognition of achievements

. A safe workplace.



Director General's Foreword

I am pleased to present the annual report for the Department of Justice and
Attorney General (DJAG) for 2009/10. It presents our strong commitment to
providing a high level of excellence in the delivery of an effective and
efficient justice system in NSW.

The Attorney General's Department and Department of Corrective Services
were amalgamated on 1 July 2009 to form DJAG as part of the Government's
ongoing public sector reform. The development of this new Department has
provided an opportunity for improved justice services. This is the first
combined annual report for the new Department and represents the wide scope
of work initiated by all Business Centres.


Motivated and dedicated people

We are a large department, with staff located throughout the state from
city offices to corrective centres and regional courthouses. Our people
work hard to support access to justice in a wide variety of ways,
delivering key services to the community and support for those on the
frontline. To achieve our goals we are committed to creating and
maintaining a strong foundation in our staff and our corporate culture.
This means that we must continue to recruit passionate and dedicated staff
who share our commitment to public service.

We always strive to create a workplace where everyone is treated with
fairness, dignity and respect. We position our Department as a workplace of
choice for people from diverse backgrounds including people with a
disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people from
linguistically and culturally diverse communities. In accordance with this
we developed and launched a new Grievance Policy, which along with the
ongoing implementation of the Dignity and Respect Policy illustrates our
focus on achieving and maintaining a workplace free from bullying,
harassment, discrimination and violence.


Stepping out in the community

Our Department often takes the opportunity to host and participate in
community events to provide the people of NSW with first-hand information
about their justice system.

In May 2010 Law Week took to the streets in cities and towns around New
South Wales. As part of this celebration an open-air legal expo was held in
Sydney's Martin Place, where members of the public could talk face to face
with major legal service providers. During the year the Department was also
represented at the Sydney Royal Easter Show as well as various other
community events including a series of Community Justice Forums, which were
held in Wollongong, Parramatta, Wagga Wagga, Campbelltown and Gosford to
reduce the many misconceptions about the operation of the criminal justice
system.


Meeting community needs

LawAccess, our free legal information service, surpassed its one millionth
call and saw a 16.3 per cent increase in the amount of telephone
interpreter calls over the previous year with nearly 38 per cent of calls
from regional and rural NSW. We also launched LawAssist, a new website that
provides a step-by step guide to make it easier for people who want to
represent themselves in court.

Keeping up to date with community demand and changing times the Department
launched a new Relationship Register to make it easier for unmarried
couples to access legal entitlements and prove they are in a committed or
de facto relationship. It also commenced an identity theft information
campaign to alert the community of ways to reduce and prevent, what is
according to the Australian Federal Police, the fastest growing crime in
Australia.

NSW Trustee and Guardian commenced business on 1 July 2009 merging the
Public Trustee NSW and the Office of the Protective Commissioner to provide
improved customer service for the people of NSW and the Crown Solicitor's
Office was restructured to also improve access and quality of their
services.

The Department is dedicated to maintaining a current and relevant justice
system. In line with this, thirty law reform bills were developed and
considered by Parliament and advice was provided to government on many
other law reform proposals. Some of the major policy changes included the
establishment of a Domestic Violence Death Review team following amendments
to the Coroners Act 2009, new laws to allow neighbours locked in disputes
over trees to have their cases heard by the Land and Environment Court
rather than incurring costly legal fees and new laws to clarify the
difference between art and child pornography.


Leading crime prevention strategies

In order to achieve our vision to contribute to a just and safe society for
all, our courts are increasingly using progressive diversionary programs to
address the underlying causes of criminal re-offending. Investment in these
innovative court initiatives such as court rehabilitation and diversionary
programs to tackle the causes of crime and increase victim participation in
the justice process, increased by $3.1 million to $26.7 million in 2010.

In our commitment to provide services for victims of crime and their
families the Department launched two new services in late 2009 to help
victims of crime through every stage of the criminal justice process - the
new user-friendly Justice Journey website and Victims Access Line.

In support for community-based programs to reduce targeted crime eight
local councils had their crime prevention strategies endorsed by the NSW
Attorney General bringing the total number of endorsed strategies to 31. In
this period 13 councils also received a combined total of $420,000 in crime
prevention grants.

The Department has led a coordinated strategy to reduce the incidence of
targeted crime including stealing from motor vehicles. A coordinated 'steal
from motor vehicle' reduction strategy has been implemented in partnership
with NSW Police, RailCorp, the RTA and Local Government in which more than
45,000 motorists were provided with car security information at the Sydney
Royal Easter Show, Operation Tabella, and at specifically targeted hotspot
railway stations. Advertisements and articles were placed in the print
media and a car security website was also developed to provide car security
information to the community.


Court performance

The performance of NSW Courts and Tribunals continues to promote public
trust and confidence in the court system. The NSW Local Court and the NSW
District Court ranked first in Australia for timeliness, according to the
Pr