❓ Hon Dr Brad Pettitt questions the significant decline in environmental law prosecutions from 2020-21 onwards. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation denies de-prioritisation and attributes the perceived decline to data inaccuracies and varying investigation complexities.
AnsweredQoN 2170Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to prosecutions of environmental law breaches from 2020-21 onwards. There were 54 prosecutions in 2020-21, 52 in 2021-22, 31 in 2022-23, and 7 in 2023-24, and I ask: (a) what were the key causal factors driving the significant decline in prosecutions over the period in (1); (b) at any time during the period in (1), has there been a considered approach to
de-prioritise prosecutions; and (c) if yes to (b), what was the rationale for de-prioritising environmental prosecutions?
de-prioritise prosecutions; and (c) if yes to (b), what was the rationale for de-prioritising environmental prosecutions?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 October 2024
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Environment
Response time
4 days
(a) The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has identified that the public information on its website did not provide an accurate reflection of the total number of prosecutions that were sentenced in court for 2023-2024. A total of 15 prosecutions were completed in 2023-2024 and the Department’s website has been updated.
There are no specific causal factors that have driven the decline in prosecutions initiated by the Department. Investigations vary in their complexity, length, and nature of evidence required to support progression of an investigation to a formal prosecution. The Department determines the appropriate enforcement outcome in accordance with the Compliance and Enforcement Policy (May 2021) and its Prosecutions Guideline (November 2020). The Department uses different types of enforcement actions and tools including statutory and non-statutory notices, warnings, infringement notices and prosecutions.
Prosecution is a type of enforcement tool that is employed where it is an appropriate response to an investigation finding relating to an alleged offence or breach. Prosecutions, like most legal proceedings, are dependent of the establishment of a prima facie case based on the relevant legislation.
(b) No.
(c) N/A.
There are no specific causal factors that have driven the decline in prosecutions initiated by the Department. Investigations vary in their complexity, length, and nature of evidence required to support progression of an investigation to a formal prosecution. The Department determines the appropriate enforcement outcome in accordance with the Compliance and Enforcement Policy (May 2021) and its Prosecutions Guideline (November 2020). The Department uses different types of enforcement actions and tools including statutory and non-statutory notices, warnings, infringement notices and prosecutions.
Prosecution is a type of enforcement tool that is employed where it is an appropriate response to an investigation finding relating to an alleged offence or breach. Prosecutions, like most legal proceedings, are dependent of the establishment of a prima facie case based on the relevant legislation.
(b) No.
(c) N/A.
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