# 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.

## 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, provided legal advice to the government, drafted bills and helped to prepare civil and criminal litigation.
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. 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.
Prisons remained the responsibility of the Colonial Secretary. In 1880 the ministry was split into the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Instruction.
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. 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.
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. The Minister for Justice was briefly responsible for Police from 1974 until 1975. In 1978 the minister ceased to be responsible for prisons which became the responsibility of the Minister for Corrective Services.
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. The ministry was abolished in the First Carr ministry in 1995, with justice returning to be the responsibility of the Attorney General, 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. 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.

## Ministers

| Title | Minister | Party | Term start | Term end | Time in office |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | Carmel Tebbutt | Labor | 8 April 1999 | 2 April 2003 | 3 years, 359 days |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | Diane Beamer | Labor | 2 April 2003 | 3 August 2005 | 2 years, 123 days |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | Tony Kelly | Labor | 3 August 2005 | 2 April 2007 | 1 year, 242 days |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | John Hatzistergos | Labor | 2 April 2007 | 11 April 2007 | 9 days |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | Barbara Perry | Labor | 11 April 2007 | 5 September 2008 | 1 year, 147 days |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | Graham West | Labor | 8 September 2008 | 5 June 2010 | 1 year, 270 days |
| Minister for Juvenile Justice | Barbara Perry | Labor | 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 | Labor | 5 April 2023 | present | 1 year, 307 days |

## Former ministerial titles
### Justice

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