Formed 2011 Number of employees 4,300 Founded 2011 | Jurisdiction New South Wales Headquarters Parramatta Type of business Department | |
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Preceding agencies Department of Police and Justice
Attorney General's Department
Department of Juvenile Justice
Department of Corrective Services Ministers responsible Hon. Mark Speakman SC, MP,
Attorney General
Hon. Troy Grant MP,
Minister for Police
Minister for Emergency Services
Hon. David Elliott MP,
Minister for Counter Terrorism
Minister for Corrections Department executive Andrew Cappie-Wood,
Secretary Child agencies Judicial Commission
Liquor & Gaming New South Wales
NSW Police Force
Rural Fire Service
State Emergency Service
NSW Crime Commission
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Corrective Services NSW Profiles | ||
The New South Wales Department of Justice, a department of the New South Wales Government, is responsible for the administration and development of a just and equitable legal system of courts, tribunals, laws and other mechanisms that further the principles of justice in New South Wales.
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The chief executive officer, called Secretary, of the department is Andrew Cappie-Wood. The Secretary is responsible to the Attorney General of New South Wales, currently the Hon. Mark Speakman SC, MP, the first law officer of New South Wales; the Minister for Police and the Minister for Emergency Services, currently the Hon. Troy Grant MP; and the Minister for Counter Terrorism and the Minister for Corrections, currently the Hon. David Elliott MP. All ministers are ultimately responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.
The department's headquarters are located in the Justice Precinct Office, part of the Parramatta Justice Precinct in Parramatta, in western Sydney. The department's more than 4,000 staff are located across New South Wales.
History
The re-organisation of the legal system of Colonial New South Wales led to the creation of the Attorney-General, an appointed law officer. Following the creation of self-government in 1856, the position of Attorney-General became an officer appointed by the Government of the day from within the membership of the Parliament of New South Wales.
In 1901, the Department of Attorney General and the Department of Justice were amalgamated into the Department of the Attorney General and Justice. In 1911, two separate branches of the Department were established, later called divisions which continued until the 1970s. Responsibility for police and corrective services were removed from the Department in the 1970s; and by 1991 the Department of Courts Administration was split out of the Department. Some four years later, the two Departments were merged and the Justice portfolio re-established in 2009 through the creation of the Department of Justice and Attorney General.
The headquarters of the department was at the Goodsell Building in Chifley Square. In 2008 the department's main business centres were relocated to newer offices in Parramatta.
Following the 2011 state election the department was merged with Corrective Services and renamed to its current name.
On 23 April 2014 it was decided that the department would be renamed the Department of Police and Justice. Subsequent government initiatives lead to the department becoming the Department of Justice.
Agencies administered
The following agencies are administered by the department: