Director of Public Prosecutions calls for boost in staffing levels to help run Supreme Court trials

Tasmania’s Director of Public Prosecutions has repeated his call to recruit more senior staff, and has said that a shortage of counsel on the defence side was exacerbating case backlog issues.

Daryl Coates SC, Tasmania's Director of Public Prosecutions.

Tasmania’s Director of Public Prosecutions has repeated his plea for more senior staff, and said that a shortage of lawyers on the defence side was exacerbating the Supreme Court’s ongoing backlog issues.

In his Office’s annual report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, DPP Daryl Coates SC, said that while a significant number of less serious cases were now staying in the lower Magistrate jurisdiction, the number of committals to the Supreme Court had increased 20 per cent in the past 12 months.

“The workload and the complexity of the work continues to increase,” Mr Coates said.

“However, as I stated last year, the office only has a few senior people and there is the need to increase the number of staff capable of conducting senior prosecutions.

“Another significant problem is the shortage of defence counsel which has become acute in recent years.

“This has led to delays and will continue to do so unless there is significant encouragement for people to enter this work.”

Defence counsel Patrick O'Halloran. Daryl Coates SC says there is a dearth of defence counsel like Mr O’Halloran who are able to run complex trials. Picture: Patrick Gee

A total of 515 criminal prosecutions were finalised in the 2022/2023 year, and there were increases in the overall proportion of convictions for personal violence and sex crimes.

During trials, there were 54 convictions, 24 acquittals, and three cases where the defendant was found insane or unfit to plea.

The Witness Assistance Service assisted almost 2000 people visiting court during the reporting period in just over 1000 matters, with 386 victim impact statements prepared.

The Office of the DPP had a budget of $13.5 million for the financial year.

Mr Coates received a total remuneration package of $597,000, which included a salary of $472,000.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Linda Mason SC, received a total remuneration package of $395,000, which included a salary of $321,000.

Employee benefits for the Office, including wages and salaries, and superannuation, tallied $10.7 million.

Mr Coates noted the departure of senior prosecutor Simon Nicholson, who left the DPP’s office to take up a role in Queensland, and the significant contribution of retired former personal assistant to the Director, Catherine Hales.

Mr Coates thanks his senior staff for their work and support across the year, including Crown Counsel Jessica Wade, who had primary responsibility for dealing with the DPP’s responses to Tasmania’s Commission of Inquiry.