❓ Mr. Rundle questions the Attorney General about the Public Trustee's handling of clients and fees, prompting a response detailing ongoing inquiries and the historical context of the fee structure. The Attorney General commits to awaiting the results of these inquiries rather than interfering.
AnsweredQoN 224Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PUBLIC TRUSTEE — FEES
224. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Attorney General:
The Western Australian Public
Trustee is again in the sights of media with individual cases reflecting the
callous treatment of clients by the trustee.
(1) When does the
Attorney General expect to receive the report into the Public Trustee from the
Department of Treasury?
(2) Other than referring the Public Trustee's
fees and charges to the Under Treasurer, what is the Attorney General doing about this serious issue?
224. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Attorney General:
The Western Australian Public
Trustee is again in the sights of media with individual cases reflecting the
callous treatment of clients by the trustee.
(1) When does the
Attorney General expect to receive the report into the Public Trustee from the
Department of Treasury?
(2) Other than referring the Public Trustee's
fees and charges to the Under Treasurer, what is the Attorney General doing about this serious issue?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I will refer to the matter on the Four Corners report concerning a person called ''Dan''—he was given an anonymised name. I will not mention that case at all in any detail
because that is before the State Administrative Tribunal, and, in any event, we
never mention anyone who is the subject of a guardianship order for obvious
reasons of privacy and the like.
As for the performance of the office
of the Public Trustee, there are two inquiries going at the moment and I am
awaiting their reports. The first inquiry is by the Auditor General. The member
might remember that the Auditor General did
an initial inquiry on key performance indicators, and that was tabled in this
Parliament. At the conclusion of that inquiry, the Auditor General indicated
that she would now start a second inquiry into the performance on
particular files. I am not going to interfere or in any way get involved in
that inquiry other than to wait, as the member will wait keenly, the results of
the Auditor General's response.
Simultaneously, Treasury and the
office of the Public Trustee are looking at and reviewing the fee structure that the office of the Public Trustee
charges estates because during the Barnett government—in fact,
one of the first things that Premier Barnett did when he came in was to change
the fee structure of the Public Trustee. By executive order—it did not
come into this Parliament—he ordered that it be a self-funding office,
which meant that a lot of vulnerable and poor people whose estates were at the
office of the Public Trustee could not pay, so all the Public Trustee could do
was to charge those who could pay and come up with a fee structure. That fee
structure was put in place by the previous coalition government. The office of
the Public Trustee and the Treasury are reviewing all that and the member will
no doubt be informed of that review in due course. If the member is asking me
if I am going to interfere or get involved in either of those two inquiries, I am
telling the member that that would be totally inappropriate conduct by an
Attorney General.
because that is before the State Administrative Tribunal, and, in any event, we
never mention anyone who is the subject of a guardianship order for obvious
reasons of privacy and the like.
As for the performance of the office
of the Public Trustee, there are two inquiries going at the moment and I am
awaiting their reports. The first inquiry is by the Auditor General. The member
might remember that the Auditor General did
an initial inquiry on key performance indicators, and that was tabled in this
Parliament. At the conclusion of that inquiry, the Auditor General indicated
that she would now start a second inquiry into the performance on
particular files. I am not going to interfere or in any way get involved in
that inquiry other than to wait, as the member will wait keenly, the results of
the Auditor General's response.
Simultaneously, Treasury and the
office of the Public Trustee are looking at and reviewing the fee structure that the office of the Public Trustee
charges estates because during the Barnett government—in fact,
one of the first things that Premier Barnett did when he came in was to change
the fee structure of the Public Trustee. By executive order—it did not
come into this Parliament—he ordered that it be a self-funding office,
which meant that a lot of vulnerable and poor people whose estates were at the
office of the Public Trustee could not pay, so all the Public Trustee could do
was to charge those who could pay and come up with a fee structure. That fee
structure was put in place by the previous coalition government. The office of
the Public Trustee and the Treasury are reviewing all that and the member will
no doubt be informed of that review in due course. If the member is asking me
if I am going to interfere or get involved in either of those two inquiries, I am
telling the member that that would be totally inappropriate conduct by an
Attorney General.
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