Director of Public Prosecutions

In reply to Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (26 July 2017). (Estimates Committee B)

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide): I have been provided the following advice:

In 2017-18, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ('the Office') will continue to work on a number of projects that support the recommendations made in the ODPP Review.

Those projects will include:

1. The implementation of additional specialist legal teams including, but not limited to, a Pre-brief Assessment Team, with appropriate key performance indicators to measure success.

2. A pilot program for the early allocation of prosecution matters to trial counsel to determine feasibility for future implementation. In addition, predictive models using historical data will be integrated into business systems to help with resource allocation and decision making.

3. Finalisation of the management structure of the Office, including recruitment of a senior legal operational role with a particular focus upon the Solicitor's Section.

4. Feasibility study for possible use of paralegal staff in place of law clerks.

5. Implementation of a resourcing model to optimise the use of external counsel and integration with business systems to help provide real time analysis and reporting of costs.

6. Development and implementation a key legal training program 'Trial Counsel Skills'.

7. The development and implementation of key performance indicators and inclusion of real time reporting into business systems.

8. Development and documentation of processes to manage content of the 'ODPP Online Guide'.