Director of Public Prosecutions Office

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:28): Does it concern the Attorney-General that there were similar problems that were identified in a similar 2017 report and they still weren't fixed? How can we be confident that the recommendations in this report will be followed through?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for his question. Certainly, over decades there have been difficulties in terms of the type of work that's undertaken in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. I have said in here before the sort of work that they undertake day in, day out is extraordinarily difficult. It is becoming more complicated, and the volume of matters is increasing along with that complexity.

One of the key recommendations of the 19 of the 20 recommendations that were for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was to have the position of deputy director, which is generally a legal person, a prosecutor, to be filled instead by a person who has the day-to-day management of the office to implement the changes and to look at the HR and people and culture aspects of the office.

So, unlike in years gone by where a director would be the top prosecutor as well as having the management of the office and HR responsibilities, to split that so that the director can do what the director does best, and that is the legal issues in the prosecutions.