…And now that the housekeeping of the day is out of the way, onto some juicy gossip!

We received the following comments from an anonymous spy last week:

Hey guys, Thought you might like some news from the govt sector, which relates to over eager law and commerce grads. The ACCC are currently in their 6th month of deliberation to finalise a handful of grad positions in Melb/Syd/Canberra. Turns out the old HR [manager] flew the coup without making any selections, despite the applications sitting on his desk for over four months. He loved the good life of doing nothing at his desk so much, that he eventually quit to do the same thing from home! No one has been appointed in his position, and the Grads have been strung a long with the excuse that the ACCC is waiting to finalise the budget for next year to work out how many positions they have. To make things more interesting someone in HR has opened applications for 2011! Feel sorry for the kids, screwed by GFC, now hung out to dry by the ACCC

We feel sorry for the kids too, and not just because they will be stuck digging through the Trade Practices Act if and when they get an ACCC grad job.

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A public-sector catastophy, requiring the passage of retrospective corrective legislation through Queensland-state parliament, led to the appointment of coroner Michael Barnes to the QLD Magistracy, it has emerged.

we will launch a coronial inquiry into the error

Magistrate Coroner Barnes momentarily served as a Magistrate in contravention of the Coroners Act 2003 and handed down in excess of 100 decisions over 3 weeks. These included a case in which Mr Barnes fined a fellow magistrate $400, and disqualified him from driving for three months, after he was caught behind the wheel with a blood alcohol reading of .075.

Legislative changes were rushed through Parliament late last month to validate that decision and others. Prior to amendment, the Coroners Act relevantly provided:

While a magistrate holds appointment as the State Coroner, the only functions and powers that the magistrate has are the functions and powers of the State Coroner.

The subsequent amendment, given legal force on 26 August, provides:

Despite subsections (4) and (5), the State Coroner-(a) may be appointed to act as, and perform the functions and exercise the powers of, the Deputy Chief Magistrate.

The amendment also specifies that sections of the Magistrates Act apply to the State Coroner while acting as Deputy Chief Magistrate.

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In the first sign that the tentacles of the global financial crisis are spreading to the legal public-sector, it has emerged today that the South Australian Courts Administration Authority has been ordered to cut 53 full-time jobs over the next 3 years.

According to a spokesperson, 39 staffers will be axed by 2010. A further 7 will be shed in 2010, and another 7 in 2011-2012.  So much for safety in government!

While there has not been any comment on whether the cuts will hamper the already overburdened South Australian judiciary to clear the mounting backlog of litigation, the newly-redundant can take solace in the fact that they will still remain in the government’s employ: Centrelink. But will there be more public sector sackings of court staff?

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