The Hodgman Liberal Government has introduced legislation to Parliament removing the lifetime employment term of the Director of Public Prosecutions and allowing the DPP to be removed from office or suspended, with or without pay, by Parliament.

In the lead up to the decision earlier this year to remove the former DPP from office, it became increasingly apparent that there were widespread community concerns around the lifetime appointment to this office and the suspension of the former DPP on full pay for a lengthy period of time.

It was clear also that there was a similar concern around the lack of clarity in relation to the power to remove those occupying that role on occasions where removal may be clearly warranted.

When the Government took action to remove the former DPP from office, we committed to amending the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1973 in order to address these issues.

Earlier this year we released a draft bill and we have been consulting extensively with the community and the legal fraternity to make sure we strike the right balance to reflect the independence of the role and the importance of accountability, transparency and appropriate appointment and removal processes.

As a result of this consultation we have today tabled a bill to amend the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1973 and the Solicitor-General Act 1983.

The amendments are in line with those in the draft bill from earlier this year, with some important further refinements.

The amendments include:

• The DPP and Solicitor-General will no longer be given a lifetime appointment to the position.
• The DPP or Solicitor-General may be suspended or removed from his position, if a resolution is passed by both houses of Parliament.
• Where currently they can only be suspended on full pay, it will now be possible to suspend the DPP or Solicitor-General from office on either part pay or no pay, should circumstances warrant it.
• Additional grounds for suspending or removing the DPP or Solicitor-General from office, including misbehaviour, misconduct, or criminal charges or convictions.

The Government has decided to amend both Acts to provide for a fixed term appointment of 10 years; and allows the incumbent to apply for a further term of up to 10 years.

This brings us into line with the majority of other states, which have a fixed term of appointment but do allow a further term.

It is important to note that while the incumbent would be able to apply for a further term, the Government believes this must occur through a competitive selection process. There should be no automatic ‘rollover’ for an incumbent into a further 10 year term.

The Liberal Government is delivering on our commitment to make necessary changes to ensure the public can have full confidence in these important statutory offices.

• For a perspective on why this is not such a good idea … Patrick Billings in The Examiner, here
Vanessa Goodwin, Attorney-General