Minister for Youth Justice (New South Wales)

The Minister for Youth Justice, formerly Minister for Juvenile Justice, is a ministry in the administration of New South Wales. The position supports the Attorney General and has occasionally been held concurrently with that office.^[1]

Minister of Youth Justice of New South Wales
Incumbent Jihad Dib since 5 April 2023
Style	The Honourable
Nominator	Premier of New South Wales
Appointer	Governor of New South Wales
Precursor	Minister of Justice Minister for Juvenile Justice
Formation	8 April 1999
First holder	Carmel Tebbutt
Website	www.nsw.gov.au/legal-and-justice/youth-justice

Role and responsibilities

Prior to 1873 there were two legal officers in the ministry, Attorney General and the Solicitor General, however there was only one portfolio, the law officers of the crown. The Attorney was the senior law officer and responsible for the work of the Solicitor-General, Crown Solicitors, parliamentary draftsmen, the administration of the courts and supporting officers such as the Sheriff and Coroner. The Solicitor General represented the crown in court,^[a] provided legal advice to the government, drafted bills and helped to prepare civil and criminal litigation.^[4]

When the Attorney General Edward Butler resigned, the Solicitor General Joseph Innes was promoted to first law officer. Innes was not however replaced as Solicitor General. Instead Parkes created the new ministry of justice and public instruction. The minister assumed responsibility for the administration of the courts, sheriff and coroner, as well as the Council of Education, orphan schools, the public library, Australian Museum and observatory.^[5] The first minister George Allen, was a solicitor who had a particular interest in education, having previously served as a commissioner of National education, supported the incorporation of the Sydney Grammar School and having a seat on the Council of Education immediately prior to his appointment as responsible minister.^[6]

Prisons remained the responsibility of the Colonial Secretary.^[7] In 1880 the ministry was split into the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Instruction.^[5]

Prior to 1880 the Minister of Justice and Public Instruction was responsible for the administration of the courts, sheriff and coroner, as well as the Council of Education, orphan schools, the public library, Australian Museum and observatory.^[8] In 1880 the ministry was split into the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Instruction following the passage of the Public Instruction Act of 1880 which required a minister to assume the responsibilities of the former Council of Education.^[9][10]

The minister also assumed responsibility for prisons which had previously been the responsibility of the Colonial Secretary, however the Colonial Secretary retained responsibility for police.^[7] The Minister for Justice was briefly responsible for Police from 1974 until 1975.^[11] In 1978 the minister ceased to be responsible for prisons which became the responsibility of the Minister for Corrective Services.^[9]

The ministry was held by the Attorney General in the third to sixth Wran ministries and was formally subsumed into the responsibilities of the Attorney General in the seventh Wran ministry in 1984. The portfolio was re-created in 1991, known for three weeks as the Minister for Courts Administration and Corrective Services, before returning to the name Minister for Justice.^[12] The ministry was abolished in the First Carr ministry in 1995, with justice returning to be the responsibility of the Attorney General,^[7] and juvenile justice being the responsibility of a separate minister. It was re-created in the Fourth Carr ministry in 2003 and was abolished in the Rees ministry in 2011.^[13] The portfolio was re-created in the O'Farrell ministry in 2011, combined with the portfolio of police in 2015 and was abolished in the first Berejiklian ministry in 2017, replaced by the Minister for Counter Terrorism.^[14]

Ministers

Title	Minister	Party		Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Minister for Juvenile Justice	Carmel Tebbutt		Labor	8 April 1999	2 April 2003	3 years, 359 days
	Diane Beamer			2 April 2003	3 August 2005	2 years, 123 days
	Tony Kelly			3 August 2005	2 April 2007	1 year, 242 days
	John Hatzistergos			2 April 2007	11 April 2007	9 days
	Barbara Perry			11 April 2007	5 September 2008	1 year, 147 days
	Graham West			8 September 2008	5 June 2010	1 year, 270 days
	Barbara Perry			5 June 2010	28 March 2011	296 days
Minister for Mental Health	Ryan Park		Labor	28 March 2023	5 April 2023	8 days
Minister for Youth Justice	Jihad Dib			5 April 2023	present	2 years, 34 days

Former ministerial titles

Justice

Minister of Justice and Public Instruction of New South Wales
Appointer	Governor of New South Wales
Formation	9 December 1873
First holder	George Allen
Final holder	Francis Suttor
Abolished	30 April 1880
Succession	Minister of Justice Minister of Public Instruction

Minister for Justice of New South Wales
Final minister Troy Grant
Appointer	Governor of New South Wales
Precursor	Minister of Justice and Public Instruction
Formation	1 May 1880
First holder	Francis Suttor
Final holder	Troy Grant
Abolished	30 January 2017
Succession	Minister for Counter Terrorism

Title	Minister [1]	Party		Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Minister of Justice and Public Instruction	George Allen MLA		None	9 December 1873	8 February 1875	1 year, 61 days	[15]
	Joseph Docker MLC			9 February 1875	21 March 1877	2 years, 40 days	[16]
	Francis Suttor MLA			22 March 1877	16 August 1877	147 days	[17]
	John Lackey MLA			17 August 1877	17 December 1877	122 days	[18]
	Joseph Leary MLA			18 December 1877	20 December 1878	1 year, 2 days	[19]
	Francis Suttor			21 December 1878	30 April 1880	1 year, 131 days	[17]
Minister of Justice				1 May 1880	10 August 1880	101 days
	Sir Joseph Innes			11 August 1880	13 October 1881	63 days
	William Foster			14 October 1881	4 January 1883	1 year, 82 days
	Henry Cohen			5 January 1883	6 October 1885	2 years, 274 days
	James Farnell			7 October 1885	9 October 1885	2 days
	Thomas Slattery			2 November 1885	21 December 1885	49 days
	Louis Heydon			22 December 1885	4 February 1886	44 days
	James Garvan		Protectionist	26 February 1886	19 January 1887	327 days
	William Clarke		Free Trade	20 January 1887	16 January 1889	1 year, 362 days
	Thomas Slattery		Protectionist	17 January 1889	7 March 1889	49 days
	Albert Gould		Free Trade	8 March 1889	22 October 1891	2 years, 228 days
	Richard O'Connor		Protectionist	23 October 1891	14 December 1893	2 years, 52 days
	Thomas Slattery			15 December 1893	2 August 1894	230 days
	Albert Gould		Free Trade	3 August 1894	15 August 1898	4 years, 12 days
	Charles Lee			17 August 1898	3 July 1899	320 days
	John Hughes			3 July 1899	13 September 1899	72 days
	William Wood		Protectionist	14 September 1899	9 April 1901	1 year, 207 days
	Robert Fitzgerald		Progressive	11 April 1901	16 July 1901	96 days
	Bernhard Wise [b]			22 July 1901	14 June 1904	2 years, 328 days
	Thomas Waddell		Progressive	15 June 1904	29 August 1904	75 days
	Charles Wade		Liberal Reform	29 August 1904	20 December 1909	5 years, 113 days
	John Garland			21 December 1909	20 October 1910	303 days
	William Holman		Labor	21 October 1910	1 April 1912	1 year, 163 days
	David Hall			2 April 1912	15 November 1916	4 years, 227 days
	John Garland		Nationalist	15 November 1916	23 July 1919	2 years, 250 days
	Jack FitzGerald			23 July 1919	12 April 1920	264 days
	Edward McTiernan		Labor	12 April 1920	21 December 1920	253 days
	William McKell [c]			22 December 1920	10 October 1921	292 days	[21]
	Thomas Bavin		Nationalist	20 December 1921	20 December 1921	7 hours
	William McKell		Labor	20 December 1921	13 April 1922	114 days
	Thomas Ley		Nationalist	13 April 1922	17 June 1925	3 years, 65 days
	William McKell		Labor	17 June 1925	7 June 1927	1 year, 355 days
	Andrew Lysaght			8 June 1927	18 October 1927	132 days
Minister for Justice	John Lee		Nationalist	18 October 1927	3 November 1930	3 years, 16 days
	Joseph Lamaro		Labor	4 November 1930	17 June 1931	225 days
	William McKell			17 June 1931	13 May 1932	331 days
	Sir Daniel Levy		United Australia	16 May 1932	17 June 1932	32 days
	Lewis Martin			18 June 1932	16 August 1939	7 years, 59 days
	Vernon Treatt			16 August 1939	16 May 1941	1 year, 273 days
	Reg Downing		Labor	19 May 1941	31 May 1960	19 years, 12 days
	Jack Mannix			31 May 1960	13 May 1965	4 years, 347 days
	John Maddison		Liberal	13 May 1965	11 May 1976	10 years, 364 days
	Ron Mulock		Labor	14 May 1976	19 October 1978	2 years, 158 days
	Frank Walker			19 October 1978	1 February 1983	4 years, 105 days
	Paul Landa			1 February 1983	5 April 1984	1 year, 64 days
Minister for Justice	Terry Griffiths [d]		Liberal	28 June 1991	23 September 1992	1 year, 87 days	[1]
	Ted Pickering			23 September 1992	22 October 1992	29 days
	Wayne Merton			22 October 1992	26 May 1993	216 days
	John Hannaford			26 May 1993	4 April 1995	1 year, 313 days
Minister for Justice	John Hatzistergos		Labor	2 April 2003	3 August 2005	2 years, 123 days	[1]
	Tony Kelly			3 August 2005	2 April 2007	1 year, 242 days
	John Hatzistergos			2 April 2007	30 January 2009	1 year, 303 days
Minister for Justice	Greg Smith		Liberal	3 April 2011	17 April 2014	3 years, 14 days	[1]
	Brad Hazzard			23 April 2014	2 April 2015	344 days
Minister for Justice and Police	Troy Grant		National	2 April 2015	30 January 2017	1 year, 303 days

Notes

1. For example the Solicitor General prosecuted the bushrangers the Clarke brothers in 1867,^[2] and appeared with the Attorney General in a motion before the full court for a new trial.^[3]
2. Bernhard Wise was the Attorney General and took on the additional responsibilities following the electoral defeat of Robert Fitzgerald.
3. William McKell was appointed as a Minister without Portfolio to be Assistant Minister of Justice from 12 April 1920,^[20] and appointed Minister on 22 December 1920.
4. Known for 22 days as the Minister for Courts Administration and Corrective Services.