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Organisational Overview

Vision

The Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS and/or the Directorate) seeks to maintain a safe, just and resilient community in the ACT.

Our Purpose

Our vision will be realised by working with the ACT Government, key stakeholders and the community to strengthen community safety, protect people’s rights and interests, care for and support vulnerable people, enhance access to justice, and build community resilience to emergencies.

In working towards our vision, the Directorate aims to be community-minded; human rights focussed; inclusive and diverse; passionate about its work; and committed to making a positive difference.

Values

We pride ourselves on being a Directorate whose attitudes and actions are consistent with the ACT Public Service (ACTPS) values and behaviours of respect, integrity, collaboration and innovation. These values and behaviours have been embraced in the JACS Strategic Plan 2020-24.

Our Functions and Services

Our performance is measured against the following strategic objectives:

The Directorate comprises of two primary programs of responsibility being Justice and Community Safety.  Within those programs, the following Business Units operate to deliver a range of community services and functions:

Justice

Community Safety

ACT Courts and Tribunal (ACTCT)

ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS)

ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA)

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)

ACT Government Solicitor (ACTGS)

Security and Emergency Management Division (SEMD)

ACT Human Rights Commission (HRC)

Strategic Policy and Programs (SPP)

ACT Parliamentary Counsel’s Office (PCO)

 

ACT Public Trustee and Guardian (PTG)

 

Legislation Policy and Programs (LPP)

 

Our Clients and Stakeholders

We are committed to developing and maintaining strong engagement and sustainable relationships with our clients and stakeholders to deliver effective services for the ACT community.

Our clients and stakeholders include the:

Our Planning and Accountability Framework

The Directorate operates in accordance with its governance framework which was reviewed in 2021 and defines the organisational structure, reporting lines and assurance arrangements.

Our Strategic Management Committee

As at 30 June 2022, the Strategic Management Committee comprised the Director-General, the two Deputy Directors-General, the Chief Operating Officer and the Chairs of the SMC Sub-Committees (Programs and Projects Committee and the Innovation and Planning Committee). A brief overview of these roles and committees is provided below:

Director-General – Richard Glenn

The Director-General is responsible for leadership, management, strategic direction, efficient and effective financial management and good governance for the whole Directorate. The Director-General also provides advice and reporting to the Ministers about the Directorate’s activity. As a member of the ACTPS Strategic Board, the Director-General provides Whole of Government leadership for the ACTPS and is responsible for the implementation of Whole of Government initiatives on the Directorate’s behalf.

Community Safety
Deputy Director-General – Karen Doran

The Deputy Director-General, Community Safety is responsible for the leadership, management and oversight of the operational services within the Directorate, particularly the ACT Emergency Services Agency and ACT Corrective Services.

Justice
Deputy Director-General – Jennifer McNeill

The Deputy Director-General, Justice is responsible for the leadership, management and oversight of the justice program, which includes delivering a significant legislation program, and engaging with and supporting Statutory Office Holders (PTG, HRC, ACTGS, DPP, ACTCT).

Corporate Services
Chief Operating Officer – Danielle Krajina

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is responsible for the delivery of corporate services across the Directorate including good governance, effective people and financial management, workplace safety, capital works and infrastructure, information and technology, as well as communication and engagement.

Significant JACS Committees for 2021-22

JACS has a range of committees responsible for the Directorate’s strategic direction, governance and assurance.

During 2021-22 the Strategic Management Committee (SMC) members continued to formulate the strategic direction, monitored the Directorate’s performance, compliance and assurance against corporate commitments and regulatory responsibilities.

SMC Sub-Committees

The Sub-Committees of SMC continued to focus on improving organisational governance, program management and innovation opportunities.

A significant focus for the Innovation and Planning Committee during the reporting year revolved around the benefits of building data capability, supporting the Corporate Services Group work towards an organisational focussed business operating model and looking at where we can invest to benefit the whole Directorate.

The Programs and Project Committee continued to investigate better ways of supporting SMC in terms of providing oversight and assurance at a Directorate and Business Unit level.  The Committee is working to implement improved program and project management reporting at the whole of Directorate and Business Unit level.

Independent Assurance

The Audit and Risk Committee provides independent advice to the Director-General and assurance about the appropriateness of the Justice and Community Safety Directorate’s financial reporting, performance reporting, system of risk oversight and management, and system of internal control.

Governance Committees

The Emergency, Security and Business Continuity Committee was established during the reporting year to provide the Director-General with assurance that the Directorate is meeting its legislative and policy obligations relating to emergency management, protective security and business continuity.

The Executive Risk Committee has been established to assist the Director-General in the implementation and sustainability of the Directorate’s risk management framework, by ensuring processes are in place to identify, report and where appropriate make recommendations regarding key risks that may impact the delivery of the Directorate’s strategic objectives.

The Tier 1 Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee met quarterly throughout 2021-22 to ensure employees’ and volunteers’ ongoing health and wellbeing. With representation from Business Units and unions, the areas of focus included implementation of the Directorate’s Occupational Violence Framework, ongoing review and analysis of workplace health and safety risks and performance, and continued evaluation of the Directorate’s COVID-19 assurance program and measures.

Executive Remuneration

The ACT Remuneration Tribunal is an independent statutory body with responsibility for setting the remuneration, allowances, and entitlements for public officials in the ACT including the ACT Government. Further information can be found at the ACT Remuneration Tribunal.

Performance During 2021-22

During 2021-22 JACS made significant progress towards our vision for a safe, just and resilient community, with a particular focus on delivering against Government and Parliamentary Agreement (PaGA) commitments including:

We also continued to support the community and our staff through the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Refer to Response to COVID-19 Section, pages 26-30.

Strengthening the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA)

The first-year funding for the ACTAS Modernised and Sustainable Service Plan was approved by the Government, allowing ACTAS to commence significant initiatives to improve service delivery.

Following the success of the proof of concept for the Police, Ambulance, Clinician Early Response (PACER) program, which commenced in December 2019, the ACT Government announced further funding to secure this important program. This funding will allow the PACER program to operate daily from 8am to midnight 7 days per week over the next four years.

We also increased our front-line capability:

We remediated the site connected with the former ACT Fire & Rescue site in Charnwood in relation to the existence of poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and worked closely with the school and the local community.

We also established an oversight committee to deliver a Master Implementation Plan (MIP) for critical infrastructure and accommodation requirements to support ACT Emergency Services Agency, ACT Policing and ACT Corrective Services.

Supporting ACT Policing

JACS worked closely with ACT Policing and ACT Human Rights Commission to develop a range of mandatory safeguards to support transparency and effective use of body worn cameras. This was supported by the Crimes (Surveillance Devices) Body-worn Camera Guidelines which were notified in February 2022.

Under the Disability Justice Strategy, the Directorate developed ‘A Police Better Practice Guide on Interactions with People with a Disability’ to assist ACT Policing in responding to matters involving people with a disability.

The Crimes (Policing) Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 was passed in March 2022, which included amendments to enshrine a permanent amnesty for the surrender of firearms to police and consolidated 18 failure to report offences into a single strict liability offence.

Supporting ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS)

We procured two body scanners which were delivered in June 2022 and are expected to be operational during the 2022-23 reporting period.

ACTCS continued to support detainees’ reintegration back into the community, including via delivery of the Transitional Release Program (TRP) and reopening of the Transitional Release Centre (TRC) in April 2022 after temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We extended the Justice Housing Program (JHP) in partnership with Yeddung Mura to include two houses (four beds) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men exiting AMC on bail or parole.

The Blueprint for Change report was published and included 15 recommendations which focus on addressing issues identified by staff.

We also launched the new Corrections Information Management System, CORIS®.

Supporting the ACT Courts and Tribunal (ACTCT)

We undertook extensive consultation in the second half of 2021, facilitated by Relationships Australia, which provided the opportunity for the Attorney-General to hear from families and workers about their experiences with the ACT coronial system.

A new dedicated Coroner was appointed for the ACT during the reporting year, which is aimed at improving the experience of bereaved families and friends involved in coronial matters and will be better positioned to be able to identify systemic issues and prevent future deaths.

The Directorate also supported the appointment of a new Chief Justice, two Judges of the Supreme Court, a Magistrate and three Special Magistrates.

ACTCT worked collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to continue the work in developing new premises for the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) which includes specialised Audio-Visual and Recording and Transcription technologies that make the core functions of the Tribunal possible, with operations expected to commence in the first quarter of the 2022-23 financial year.

During the reporting year work continued to finalise the fit-out of new court rooms for Galambany and Warrumbul Courts.  Galambany Court will be relocated to a new room that is more culturally appropriate which is in close proximity to the Ngilimadadun Room which provides the community with a culturally safe space to prepare for court attendance.

The Childrens Court continued the implementation of the Care and Protection Intensive List (CPIL) for care and protection matters.

The Supreme Court continued to undertake criminal case conferencing which aims to reduce the number of matters that proceed to trial and to decrease the issues in dispute for those matters that do proceed.

Protecting Peoples Rights and Interests and Supporting Vulnerable People

We continued to work closely with the Community Services Directorate (CSD) to support the ACT Government meet its commitment to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in the ACT.

During the reporting year, we asked the Canberra community for their views on residential tenancy reform. The aim of this work is to provide a basis for a range of reforms to prevent landlords from ending leases without cause, making the ACT rental market more transparent, supporting renters and setting a minimum set of standards for rental opportunities.

We supported ACT’s legal assistance sector in 2021-22 to provide critical services for Canberrans who otherwise cannot access the sector by administering $1.199 million in
2021-22 of ACT Government funding towards frontline service delivery to ACT’s community legal centres and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services.

We finalised a series of resource materials during the reporting year to support the community understand the introduction of three new offences under the Crimes (Offences Against Vulnerable People) Legislation Amendment Act, which makes it a criminal offence to abuse or neglect a vulnerable person and an offence for a person in authority to fail to protect a vulnerable person in their care.

In the reporting period the Directorate retained Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt and her team at the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research to facilitate a co-design process with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to develop a model for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner. The establishment of this statutory position was recommended by the ‘Our Booris Our Way Review’ of the ACT child protection system. The Jumbunna team prepared a detailed Discussion Paper and facilitated a range of community dialogues and meetings in November and December 2021.

Supporting the Important Role of Clubs, while Introducing Gaming Harm Minimisation Measures

We are leading the implementation of the 10 gaming related commitments listed in the PaGA for the 10th Legislative Assembly which aim to minimise the harm caused by gaming in our community.

We continued to work with Access Canberra to provide a 50% gaming machine tax rebate for small and medium clubs and club groups to support these clubs as they diversify their revenue sources away from gaming machines and facilitate new services and support for the Canberra community. A review of the tax rebate has been deferred to November 2023 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which affected ordinary gaming machine tax payments.

We continued to support the administration of the Diversification and Sustainability Support Fund (DSSF), which commenced on 1 July 2019. The DSSF is an initiative which was initially jointly funded by industry and Government to help clubs to diversify their revenue streams away from gaming machines and to develop new staff skills.

Supporting Public Safety

The installation of new closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras was completed in Glebe Park. $190 000 was funded for this expansion from a government investment of $475 000 towards CCTV upgrades in the 2018-19 ACT Budget. These cameras form part of the Public Safety CCTV Network.

Outlook and Priorities for 2022-23

The Directorate will continue to focus on delivering against the PaGA commitments during 2022-23, with a significant investment towards:

Strengthening the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA)

The Directorate will work to build operational capability to meet the future needs of the community by implementing the ACT Ambulance Services Modernised and Sustainable Services Plan; finalising design documentation and a delivery methodology for a joint ACT Fire & Rescue and ACT Ambulance Service Station in the Molonglo Valley; upgrading critical ICT systems, and identifying future Whole of Government requirements/solutions for the Territory Radio Network; and purchasing and delivering charging infrastructure to allow the introduction of zero emission vehicles to become part of the ESA fleet. We will also finalise the development of the ACT Strategic Flood Risk Management Plan and undertake the periodic review of the ACT Flood Sub-Plan.

Supporting ACT Policing

The Directorate will work with ACT Policing to settle a new Purchase Agreement for the provision of policing services, which will include a new obligation for an annual Statement of Intent from the Chief Police Officer regarding ACT policy priorities.

We will deliver a new Road Policing Centre (RPC) in Hume, which will replace the 40-year old Belconnen Traffic Operations Centre (TOC).  This site will provide a modern facility for ACT Policing that will deliver task specific laboratories, workshops, training rooms and environmental protection for crashed vehicle assessments.

The Directorate will work with ACT Policing to build capability and meet future needs by supporting the establishment of a Joint Organised Crime Taskforce Capability, which includes working with other jurisdictions to target and disrupt serious and organised criminal activity; providing additional staff resources to the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse team to protect victim survivors of sexual assault and improve the overall response to sexual violence; and continuing to support the ACT fixated lone-actor grievance-fuelled violence assessment team to identify individuals who present fixated threats to government officials and the community.

Supporting ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS)

The Directorate will work to implement critical recommendations from the ‘A new future for custodial services, ACT Corrective Services Blueprint for Change’, which includes increasing staff and providing support at the AMC, as well as implementing measures to enhance health and safety for staff and detainees.

We will also continue to further improve detainee experience, with a focus on rehabilitation, disability support, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees.  This will include the continued implementation of the Integrated Offender Management (IOM) Framework, the Disability Action and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) and the finalisation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Framework.

The Directorate will initiate work to develop a new Community Corrections Offender Management Framework with the aim to implement a case management service model for offenders on a community order in 2022-23.

Supporting the ACT Courts and Tribunal (ACTCT)

The Directorate will support the ACTCT by continuing criminal case conferencing in the ACT Supreme Court which encourages early settlement and improves the overall efficiency of the criminal justice process; and undertaking the first phase of a new client interface system that will enable the ACAT to provide better and more timely assistance to customers in financial hardship and under threat of disconnection of their utility service.

Protecting Peoples Rights and Interests

Two priority areas for the Directorate will be the continued work to support the ACT Government’s commitment to raise the ‘Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility’ (MACR) and progressing significant discrimination reforms to including introducing a positive duty to eliminate discrimination and expanding the scope of the Discrimination Act 1991.

The Directorate will support the Discrimination, Health Services, Disability & Community Services Commissioner respond to the increasing number and range of complaints in relation to elder abuse, abuse/neglect of people with a disability, access to health services as well as concerns in services for children, young people and older Canberrans.

The Directorate will support the Victims of Crime Commissioner to maintain the Adult Offenders Victims Register, the Youth Justice Victims Register and the Affected Register to maximise accessibility, increase awareness and ensuring victims receive crucial information and support.

We will also be establishing an independent ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner to undertaken individual and systemic advocacy and monitoring in relation to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families in the ACT.

There will also be a significant focus on providing assistance to the ACT’s community-based legal assistance and respond to a recommendation of the ‘Our Booris Our Way Report’ by establishing a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander care and protection legal advocacy service, as well as continuing to support the ‘SafeHome Program’ which improves security for households in the ACT that are victims or vulnerable to home burglary.

Continuing our Commitment to Reducing Recidivism of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the ACT Criminal Justice System

The Directorate will support this commitment by; increasing the number of sittings days of the Galambany Circle Sentencing Court, extending supports to empower families in navigating the justice system (right support at the right time), continuing to support offenders reconnect with Country and the community to support their transition back to the community, and introducing a First Nations Interview Friends program.

Minimising Harm from Gaming

The Directorate will undertake a discovery and design process to support the introduction of $5 bet limits and $100 load up limits on ACT electronic gaming machines.