Calls to update Campbelltown Courthouse with lawyers at risk when urinating next to crims

An ageing court complex in Sydney’s west is in desperate need of an update with legal staff needing their own toilet facilities away from offenders.

Legal staff working in an “outdated” western Sydney court complex are battling to find secure toilets away from offenders while lack of separate entrances meant victims were forced to mingle with their perpetrators in the foyer.

People in wheelchairs were also unable to serve on juries because the assembly rooms at the Campbelltown Court complex could only be accessed via stairs, while children and their legal teams were playing musical chairs with the limiting seating in the Children’s Court foyer.

The inadequacy of the toilet facilities in Campbelltown contrasts with those in the newly upgraded Newcastle Courthouse complex where legal staff have access to their own toilet.

The “wee” problem is among a raft of issues that have been raised with Campbelltown City Council by those working in the ageing court complex.

Council staff this week relayed the issues with the court to State opposition legal affairs spokesman Alister Henskens, who is investigating the fate of a long-awaited court precinct upgrade.

Campbelltown Court House needs an upgrade.

The council has been ­lobbying for improvements to its court facilities for two decades, with the former Coalition state and federal governments eventually funding a masterplan for a “legal precinct”.

The precinct would include local, district and children’s courts along with a NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and community support services on a 5.7 hectare site.

The council argues that Sydney’s rising population will only further burden the already strained court, where the limited facilities were contributing to a delay in the finalisation of criminal matters.

A council report on its ­proposed legal precinct show about 200 domestic violence matters are heard in Campbelltown on a “typical domestic violence list day”.

During these days, victims and defendants along with their legal teams shared a foyer “heightening the risk of victim intimidation,” it said.

“In Campbelltown Children’s Court, there are 22 seats in the foyer,” it said.

“On a typical list day, 24 children appear before the court, in addition to their support people, families, interpreters and solicitors, amounting to approximately 70 people vying for the seats.”

The former Coalition state and federal governments jointly funded the $1m strategic business case that was completed in May 2021, with a further $1.2m poured into the development of a masterplan.

However, Mr Henskens said the project had appeared to have stalled since the change of governments.

Staff from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) are among those who use the Campbelltown court facilities.

An ODPP spokesman said the office took the personal safety of its staff seriously and that “Where possible, arrangements are made for them to use secure facilities at court.”

A spokesman for NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said the timeframe for funding and delivery priority to redevelop the courthouse was being determined as part of the budget process.

“The NSW Government is committed to improving access to justice across the state,” he said.

“Courts infrastructure is one aspect of achieving this goal.”

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