DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS — SUPPORT DOG
CONTRACT
97. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the parliamentary
secretary's answer on 5 May 2021 to question without notice 35. When
asked to table the expert advice received by
the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to validate that a support
dog was the best way of dealing with staff stress, the parliamentary
secretary instead tabled a study published in an international journal in 2017.
(1) Is the parliamentary secretary aware of a report
having been commissioned by the ODPP at a cost of $162 805?
(2) Why was that report commissioned?
(3) When was that report
commissioned?
(4) Why did the parliamentary
secretary not table that report in response to my question?
(5) How many recommendations were
made in the report?
(6) Did the report recommend a support
dog?
(7) Will the parliamentary secretary
now table the report?
Hon MATTHEW SWINBOURN
replied:
(1) Yes.
(2) The Director
of Public Prosecutions advises that the 2015–16 to 2016–17
public sector workforce renewal policy of
the Barnett government to harvest 40 per cent of salaries of departing staff
meant the ODPP could only replace prosecutors at a significantly lower
level of salary and legal skill. This reduced the expertise and number of available prosecutors at the same
time the ODPP was experiencing a rapid increase in the complexity and volume of
evidentiary material relied upon in prosecutions. The report by the Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental
Health was commissioned in response to concerns about the mental
wellbeing of ODPP staff due to workload pressures and exposure to graphic
material.
(3) The report was commissioned on
19 February 2019 and was delivered on 29 July 2019.
(4) Legislative Council question without notice 35
sought advice validating a support dog in relation to staff stress. The Phoenix
Australia report did not have a support dog among its recommendations; however,
it cited as further reading on the
topic ''Dogs in the Workplace: A Review of the Benefits and Potential
Challenges'' published in the International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health. The Director of Public Prosecutions advised
that this was one study that the ODPP considered in detail, and it was duly
tabled.
(5) Eleven recommendations were
made.
(6) Please see the answer to (4).
(7) Given the
limited number of staff at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
and personal disclosures in the report in relation to mental health, it is
plausible that staff may be identifiable. I ask that the member put the
question on notice so that these privacy matters can be properly considered.