Public Defenders Act 1995

The functions of a Public Defender include the following:

to advise and appear in criminal proceedings, and other proceedings in the nature of criminal proceedings, on behalf of legally assisted persons,

to advise on matters referred to the Public Defender by the Senior Public Defender,

to carry out such other related functions as may be specified by the Attorney General after consultation with the Senior Public Defender.

The reference in subsection (1) (a) to proceedings in the nature of criminal proceedings extends to:

committals, trials, appeals and ancillary proceedings (such as bail applications), and

proceedings that are brought against a person for the purpose of obtaining an order for the detention of the person in prison, in a hospital for the detention of mentally incapacitated persons or in any other place of detention, and

proceedings that are brought by a person for the purpose of securing the person’s release from detention in prison, in a hospital for the detention of mentally incapacitated persons or in any other place of detention.