SIMON Corbell says the ACT Government has signed an agreement with Western Australia to purchase and use their courts case management system.

“The new case management system, known as the Integrated Case Management System, will provide the foundation for a range of initiatives aimed at improving service delivery across the ACT Law Courts and Tribunal,” Simon said.

“It will facilitate the collection of data about court operations and cases, providing a useful evidence base going forward.

“By purchasing a system that is already operating successfully in another jurisdiction, the ACT is getting a known and established product.”

The agreement will improve the efficiency and timeliness of court and tribunal operations, as well as substantially reducing the need for paper documents. The new system replaces the MAX database which has been operating since 1991.

“The ICMS project will provide the ACT with the necessary capability to introduce further improvements to the way court and tribunal services are delivered and it is a necessary first step in moving toward a paperless court and tribunal system.”

“The MAX system is no longer adequate to meet the demands of the modern justice system.

“Work has already begun on implementing the new system and I look forward to seeing it rolled out across the whole of the ACT Law Courts and Tribunal.”

The agreement also means the ACT is in a position to benefit as WA develops its systems.

“For example, in the Perth Magistrates Court, a pilot program to operate entirely from electronic records is underway and the ICMS system is central to that work. WA anticipates that, when fully operational, a full electronic courts system will save $500,000 annually and save the WA Magistrates Court from handling more than 100,000 paper documents a year.”

The project will be rolled out over the next two years, starting with the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“This is an important step forward for ACT Law Courts and Tribunal, and it’s a smart way to go about adopting a new system,” Mr Corbell said.