courts consulting the community 2006 
media release

Friday, November 24, 2006

A survey has found that 69 per cent of South Australians have confidence in the State Courts with 64 per cent saying they would be confident of receiving a fair trial.

The survey, based on 1003 interviews of people aged 16 and over, conducted during August this year, is a repeat of a similar survey undertaken in 2000 by the South Australian Courts Administration Authority as part of a Courts Consulting the Community study.

The results were released today at a conference involving the Judiciary, Court staff and members of the Courts Administration Authority’s Community Reference Group and other community representatives.

There was general consistency from 2000 to 2006 in the percentage of South Australians believing they would personally be treated the same as others (67 per cent in 2006); would be confident of a fair trial (64 per cent); would be confident the decision would be right (47 per cent) and that the Judge/Magistrate would be independent (67 per cent).

The survey shows an improvement in satisfaction from those who have dealt with the courts over the past two years. While the overall satisfaction of 62 per cent is identical to 2000, the proportion of recent users giving the higher rating of "good" rather than "satisfactory" has increased by 11 per cent to 44 per cent.

Significant improvements were recorded in "ease of understanding what was happening" (a 16 per cent increase to 74 per cent providing a rating of satisfactory or good) and "availability of information" (increasing 19 per cent to 60 per cent).

The number of people who believe the courts are "too soft" on offenders has decreased from 80 per cent to 68 per cent in 2006.

Widely held positive perceptions of South Australian courts include:

• Agreement that the courts may not be perfect, but they are as good as possible (increase from 61 per cent to 64 per cent in 2006).

• ·Agreement that most juries are representative of the community (decrease from 77 per cent to 75 per cent in 2006).

• Agreement that Judges and Magistrates are honest and fair in deciding cases (no change to 70 per cent in 2006).

The percentage of people having confidence in the courts has not altered significantly between 2000 and 2006 but the courts went from fourth ranking to fifth behind police (93 per cent), medical profession (92 per cent), public school system (72 per cent) and State Government 71 per cent. (The change in ranking is a result of a 21 per cent increase in confidence in the State Government). Behind the courts were the Federal Government (67 per cent), lawyers (64 per cent), politicians generally (46 per cent) and the news media (43 per cent).

The survey showed that most people kept informed about how the courts operate through newspapers and television.

Ninety per cent of people believe the courts themselves should keep people informed while 20 per cent were aware that the courts could provide such information.

Of particular note is the significant increase in likelihood of obtaining information about the courts by the Internet (50 per cent in 2000 compared with 68 per cent in 2006).

Seventy-four per cent of South Australians use the Internet at least once every two months (49 per cent in 2000).

The Chief Justice, John Doyle, said today the results were generally pleasing and indicated that the effort being put into improving the provision of information about the courts, was having an effect.

"It is pleasing to note that nearly 70 per cent of people have confidence in the courts although it is a concern that many South Australians believe that corporations and the wealthy are treated better than other South Australians.

"The purpose of today’s conference is for community representatives to look at the results and to make suggestions on how we might address the issues that arise.

"To have this sort of community input is very valuable and the suggestions from participants will help us to plan ways of improving the service we provide."

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