Legal Costs

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:59): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney a question about the reimbursement of legal costs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: In April, The Advertiser and the ABC reported that, following an ICAC investigation, Dr James Spark was sentenced to a suspended sentence of a 10-month imprisonment term, following his conviction of a number of charges of deception. Section 59A in schedule 5 of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act 2012 provides an entitlement for the recovery of legal costs incurred by a public officer after 7 October 2021, unless they are convicted of an indictable offence that constitutes corruption in public administration. My questions to the Attorney are:

1. Given that deception is no longer a corruption offence as defined in the said act, and having regard to schedule 5 of that act—namely, reimbursement of legal fees policy—does the Attorney believe that Dr Spark is entitled to be reimbursed for his legal costs incurred in relation to the investigation and answering the charges?

2. Has the Attorney sought the views or advice of the commissioner and, if so, has the commissioner indicated a view with respect to this issue specifically or more generally?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for her question. In relation to the individual the member referred to, I don't have any record and, given that the member said it was a recent case, I probably would have a recollection of having heard about it or seen it or had advice provided about reimbursement. I will double-check but I am pretty sure that there has been nothing come to my office about an application for reimbursement.

As the honourable member has correctly pointed out, reimbursement for legal costs is governed, in the first instance, by Legal Bulletin No. 5, but specifically in relation to matters to do with ICAC investigations by the provisions of the ICAC Act. Typically, what will happen if there is a request made for reimbursement is legal advice will be sought about whether what is being requested fits within Legal Bulletin No. 5, or within the particular statutory provisions, such as the ICAC provisions, and action will be taken based on that advice.

In relation to more generally the question of reimbursement, I think at some stage over the past two or three years, certainly since changes were made to the ICAC Act, I am pretty sure that the office of the commissioner of ICAC would have made submissions about a whole range of areas, and I suspect one of them would have been about legal reimbursement. Of course, as a government, we take on board all suggestions that are made by integrity agencies and others about the operation of the act.