REGIONAL JUDICIAL SERVICES

Mr BROCK (Frome) (14:50): I will correct the minister: the Port Pirie Regional Council won two awards. My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney-General confirm that the frequency of the District Court circuit courts in regional locations in South Australia is to be reduced? At the same time, can the Attorney-General advise whether the frequency of sittings in the Supreme Court in country regions will be reduced after 1 July?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for his question; I know that he is very much interested in what goes on in that part of regional South Australia and, indeed, all of regional South Australia.

The situation, as far as I understand it, is that today there was a report appearing somewhere in the media to the effect that one District Court judge had made some remarks about the availability of judicial officers to participate in circuit work around South Australia. I have not been able to ascertain as yet the exact detail lying behind that particular set of remarks by His Honour. I can, however, advise the parliament of a couple of matters.

First of all, as members would be aware, the Courts Administration Authority is an independent authority, independent from direction from me as Attorney-General or, indeed, anybody other than the Courts Administration Authority itself, the chief executive of which, in effect, is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. So, the matter of how its funds are allocated is entirely a matter for the disposition of the court within its own budget.

The second thing I would say is that, as honourable members may or may not be aware, over the last couple of years, there has been quite an effort made to introduce a greater amount of videoconferencing between remote locations and the courts. This has meant that there has been a diminishing requirement for the physical presence of judicial officers in remote parts of the state, although, in saying that, I do not wish to suggest that all need for people in distant parts of the state has been accommodated entirely by video. But I am making the point that the change in technology is delivering an opportunity for remote matters to be dealt with in a more opportune and less expensive fashion.

The third point I would make to members is that, in recent discussions I have had with the Chief Justice, he has intimated to me that he has some particular plans in respect of delivering improved justice services to regional South Australia, and those plans are things he is working his way through presently. It would be inappropriate for me, in the absence of his having completed those conversations with the other judges, and in the absence of his officially advising me of the outcome, to say anything further. But I can tell the honourable member that the Chief Justice is aware of issues relating to regional South Australia—as, indeed, I am—and both of us are keen to make sure that it is well serviced.