❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding the performance of the Department of Public Prosecutions, specifically referencing a critical media report and raising concerns about staffing levels, resource constraints, and IT infrastructure. The Attorney General acknowledges resource issues and outlines planned upgrades.
AnsweredQoN 4759Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Referring to performance of the Department of Public Prosecutions and especially the case of Patrick Waring as reported in the
West Australian
Newspaper
on 3 April 2007, ‘DPP a laughing stock: lawyer’, I ask -
(1) Is the Minister satisfied with the performance of the Department?
(2) How many full time employees’ (FTE) are budgeted for the Department?
(3) How many FTE positions are currently unfilled?
(4) Does the Minister agree with the statement as reported by the Director of Public Prosecutions that the Department’s resources had been stretched significantly by new legislation, increasing demands on the court system, and problems with the Department’s database?
(5) What additional legislation was the Director referring to?
(6) What increasing demands on the court system is the Director referring to?
(7) Can the Minister provide further details about the problems with the database?
West Australian
Newspaper
on 3 April 2007, ‘DPP a laughing stock: lawyer’, I ask -
(1) Is the Minister satisfied with the performance of the Department?
(2) How many full time employees’ (FTE) are budgeted for the Department?
(3) How many FTE positions are currently unfilled?
(4) Does the Minister agree with the statement as reported by the Director of Public Prosecutions that the Department’s resources had been stretched significantly by new legislation, increasing demands on the court system, and problems with the Department’s database?
(5) What additional legislation was the Director referring to?
(6) What increasing demands on the court system is the Director referring to?
(7) Can the Minister provide further details about the problems with the database?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
29 May 2007
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection representing the Attorney General
Response time
28 days
(3) As at 30 April 2007 there were 10 FTE unfilled. (4) Yes. (5) Principally the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006. (6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(4) Yes. (5) Principally the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006. (6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(5) Principally the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006. (6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(4) Yes. (5) Principally the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006. (6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(5) Principally the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006. (6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(6) The increased use by the Courts of overlisting and rolling court lists, the burden of ensuring complete disclosure of all matters that may be relevant to the prosecution of the charge, necessitating considerable work in following up investigators to obtain all relevant materials, the increased burden of editing visually recorded interviews and witness statements for presentation in court. (7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
(7) A comprehensive review of the information technology and records management requirements of the ODPP conducted late last year highlighted significant deficiencies in the current information management systems of the ODPP. Government has therefore provided capital funding in the 2007-08 year to allow the ODPP to replace the current case management system and upgrade the electronic records management facilities to create a comprehensive, integrated and compliant electronic records retention and case management system. The implementation of this new infrastructure will facilitate improved statistical reporting, relationship management and information sharing with other external stakeholders within the criminal justice system.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.