Parliamentary Questions

Question Without Notice No. 174 asked in the Legislative Council on 28 March 2018 by Hon Nick Goiran Parliament: 40 Session: 1

Answered on 28 March 2018

174. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the Leader of the House representing the Attorney General:

I refer to the Attorney General's answers on 17 January 2018 and 9 March 2018 to my questions in which he informed the Standing Committee on Estimates and Financial Operations that on 21 September 2017 he approved a Department of Justice recommendation to review the criminal injuries compensation scheme.
(1) Did the Attorney General communicate his approval to the department on 12 October 2017?

(2) Further to (1), why was there such a substantial delay between the decision being made and it being communicated to the department?

(3) Has the review commenced; and, if not, when will the review commence?
(4) Who will conduct the review?
(5) Have the review terms of reference been set; and, if not, when will they be set?

(6) Will members of the public be invited to contribute to the review; and, if so, how will they be notified?

(7) When will the review be completed?
(8) Will one outcome of the review include a report tabled in Parliament?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) The approval was received by the Department of Justice on 12 October 2017.

(2) The Attorney General does not consider 15 working days to be a substantial delay, considering the large volume of correspondence between his office and the department.

(3) The department is currently preparing a discussion paper that will be used to undertake consultation.
(4) The Department of Justice.
(5) Terms of reference will be outlined in the discussion paper that will be used for consultation.

(6) The department has proposed that the Chief Assessor of Criminal Injuries Compensation, heads of jurisdiction, the Commissioner for Victims of Crime and victim support services be consulted.
(7) The department has indicated that the review will be provided to the Attorney General by October 2018.

(8) No.