Justice Portfolio

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Glossary

Term
Description

Aboriginal origin

A person who self-identifies, or is identified as, being of Aboriginal heritage.

Action

An approach that has been chosen, after considering a number of alternatives, as a means to achieve a particular goal.

Advocacy

Representing the concerns and interests of consumers and carers, speaking on their behalf, and providing training and support to enable them to represent themselves.

Civil law

Process by which grievances between individual private citizens are settled.

Consumers

Those people who make contact with the Office and seek our services.

Counsel

Another name for barristers. Can be either 'prosecution counsel' or 'defence counsel' (see below).

Criminal law

Where the State disciplines the offender and therefore the Crown becomes the prosecutor (one party), and the offender is the other party. This applies to sexual offences, which is why the woman is only a witness and not one of the parties.

Customers

Any person, organisation or agency that has had contact with the Office in relation to our services and any person likely to make contact with the Office to seek our services in the future.

Election

The method by which citizens select their representatives for the Parliament.

Goal

A preferred long-term outcome that the organisation’s efforts are intended to achieve.

Guardian

A person who has the right and duty to protect another person, their property and their rights. In family law not necessarily the person with residence (q.v.).

Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)

A voluntary agreement about the use and management of an area of land or waters, made between one or more native title groups, and others (such as miners, pastoralists, governments). Once on the register of ILUAs an agreement is legally binding on the people who are party to it, and all native titleholders for that area. Acts done in accordance with a registered ILUA are valid.

Justice of the Peace

Person able to witness legal documents. Although a notary public is required to witness documents for use by foreign courts or authorities, a Justice of the Peace is able to authorise documents for Commonwealth Nations.

Key Performance Measure

Those measures we will use to gauge how we are progressing towards meeting our goals.

Key Result Area

An area of strategic importance that the Office considers is important to invest resources in to progress its performance.

Legal Aid

Government funded, means-tested financial assistance to pay legal fees.

Legislation

Bills passed by the Parliament, which as Acts become the State's laws.

Liability

Any legal responsibility, duty or obligation

Media

Channel for mass communication of information to general and/or specific audiences (electronic media-radio, television, film; print media-newspapers, magazines).

Objective

An achievement to be attained at some specific date directly linked to the achievement of a goal.

Parliamentary Counsel

An office of legal officers who draft or prepare proposals for new laws.

Power of Attorney

A power of attorney is a document by which a person appoints someone else, usually a trusted family member or friend, to act as their agent with authority to deal with and manage their property and other financial affairs.

Role

A precise statement that identifies why the organisation exists.

Statutory

Actually written down in legislative form, as in an Act of Parliament (as opposed to case law, which is developed from individual court cases).

Translation service

A service that interprets the communication between a consumer and an employment service. Spoken languages other than English and non-spoken communication (e.g., sign language) are interpreted via these services.

Values

Attitudes and beliefs that underpin our operating behaviours – what we are committed to as an organisation in how we go about our work.

Work experience

A consumer who is undertaking paid or unpaid work experience or a work trial.

 

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