Question Time

Coroners Court Funding

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney-General a question regarding Coroners Court funding.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: For the last six years, funding has been available for a third coroner and ancillary staff to assist with the work of the State Coroner and the Coroners Court, and 2022-23 was the sixth year in which there has been funding. However, according to the Coroners Court 2022-23 report, tabled in the House of Assembly on 29 November 2023, the state government has made the decision for the budget year 2023-24 that such funding will not be renewed. I quote from the Coroner's report as follows:

The decision of the State Government not to renew funding for a third Coroner and ancillary staff was a great disappointment to me. Since my appointment as State Coroner in 2019 it has been my assessment that three Coroners are required, as a minimum, to satisfactorily discharge the statutory duties imposed by the Coroners Act 2003. I have consistently put that position to Government and advocated for an extra allocation to provide for a third coroner and the necessary ancillary legal and administrative staff.

The decision to cut funding has been made by the government, despite the fact that the number of reportable deaths has been steadily increasing over the years. In 2005-06, there were 2,080 reportable deaths, far less than the 3,340 reported in 2022-23. My questions to the Attorney are:

1. Given the increase in the workload within the Coroners Court in recent years, on what basis is the Attorney justifying the cut in funding for a third coroner and ancillary staff?

2. What plans does the Attorney have to support the Coroner and address the concerns he raised in his report?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:24): I thank the honourable member for her question. She is quite right. There has been funding of a temporary nature provided to the Coroner's jurisdiction. I understand it was provided for a specific group of inquests. At any stage, the former Liberal government, of course, could have made it permanent, but they chose not to as well. We are in regular communication with the Coroner's jurisdiction and are looking at any way that we can make the jurisdiction as effective and efficient as possible.