Court Backlogs

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the Attorney-General regarding court delays in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Some very recently released national data has revealed that South Australia's criminal court backlog is actually the worst in Australia and the worst it has been in over a decade. The Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services shows that the backlog of criminal cases greater than 12 months in the District Court alone was 44.5 per cent, with hundreds of cases over two years old.

The commission also reported that Youth Court backlogs have increased significantly in recent years with cases in the system longer than six months and 12 months more than doubling in that time. The South Australian Commissioner for Victims' Rights, Sarah Quick, stated, 'Court delays and backlogs are major issues for victims of crime, compounding their emotional distress and delaying justice.' She added that delays cause, 'uncertainty, anxiety, frustration and stress'. My questions to the Attorney are:

1. Does the Attorney agree with the victims of crime commissioner that 'court delays and backlogs are major issues for victims of crime, compounding their emotional distress and delaying justice' and also that they cause 'uncertainty, anxiety, frustration and stress'?

2. If so, does the Attorney concede that the current backlogs are unacceptable and, if so, what action has he taken or has the government planned to take in order to address them?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for his question and I acknowledge his longstanding interest in this area, and the questions he has asked in relation to similar topics in the past.

I think I have outlined in this chamber before some of the investments that have been made in budgets so far in this term of government in relation to multimillion-dollar investments in the court to handle large multidefendant trials, extra resources for the Director of Public Prosecution's office, as well as support for additional staff, particularly in the District Court, which is the main court for significant criminal trials in South Australia.

I know that Operation Ironside in particular has had a number of effects on our court system and on the statistics that the honourable member referred to. Firstly, there is a very large number of very complex matters that have come out of the AN0M app that was used across jurisdictions right across the world, but particularly in Australia and particularly in South Australia there were many arrests, some very serious and very complicated trials which have in part been the reason for some of the multimillion dollar investment in our court system.

I am advised that one of the other consequences of the Operation Ironside trials, and the proceedings and appeals that have gone all the way to the High Court, is that it has meant that quite a number of these trials that had either been listed or were due to be listed were put on hold pending determination of those appeals about admissibility of evidence that has gone to the High Court. So I am informed that that may be influencing the statistics—having a large number of complex trials on hold awaiting decisions about admissibility of evidence in Operation Ironside trials.

But, absolutely, we should strive to hear matters as quickly as possible for a whole range of reasons including that it is the most effective and efficient way to conduct prosecutions, but probably more importantly, for victims' peace of mind in terms of their involvement in the criminal justice system.