• enhance the rights of victims in the sentencing process; and
• reduce repeat offending.

An offender who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and who pleads guilty to an offence may be referred to the Circle for sentencing, if the offence and the offender fit the guidelines. The Circle is presided over by a Magistrate and includes a panel of elders or respected community members. The offender, their legal representative, and a prosecutor also participate. Corrective Services attend if they have supervised the offender during the remand period. The victim is invited to participate in the Circle and can be accompanied by a witness assistant from the Office or other supporter. Having heard the facts of the offence, information about the offender, and the impact of the offence upon the victim, the panel makes recommendations to the Magistrate concerning sentencing. The Magistrate then sentences the offender, taking into account the recommendations of the panel.

Circle, by its very nature, takes a more expansive approach than conventional sentencing as a wider range of subjective factors are considered to arrive at a sentence that promotes the rehabilitation of the offender but also takes into account the expectations of the community. This process is significantly longer and more complicated than the conventional sentencing process and involves a significant amount of resources from the courts and by this Office.

Coroners Court

The Director’s functions include the function set out in Section 6(1)(d) of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 of “assisting a coroner in inquests and inquiries”. Although this is not a function that is exclusive to the Office, in practice, the coroner is assisted by a prosecutor from the Office in most coronial inquires.

Coronial proceedings are investigative rather than adversarial in nature. Many coronial matters do not require a hearing of evidence. The coroner can often make findings in relation to the cause of death from statements and documents tendered in a short hearing. Where the cause of death is not clear, or where issues of public interest arise, the coroner can hear evidence from witnesses. Interested parties can also ask questions or be represented by counsel.

This year the trend away from coroners hearing evidence continued. As a consequence there were fewer appearances by officers in coronial hearings than last year, and fewer coronial briefs received.

During the reporting period there were

Note: ‘Matters in which the Coroner decided no inquest was required’ were reported on in the 2011/2012 Annual Report. However, during this financial year the DPP only received a brief in matters where the Coroner decided that an inquest was required. Therefore this figure is no longer relevant'.