The NSW government has been warned its commitment to upgrade a busy court in Sydney's south-west is desperately needed because witnesses are at risk of physical harm in the foyer.
Campbelltown Court, about 50 kilometres from Sydney, is the legal hub for the Macarthur region, one of the fastest growing areas in Australia.
The region takes in the main centres of Campbelltown, Camden, Picton, and Wilton with researchers predicting the population of about 300,000 will double by 2036.
Located on Railway Street is an ageing two-storey building with five Local Courts and two District Courts.
There is a Children's Court in the same complex, otherwise only found in the Sydney metropolitan area at Parramatta in the west and Surry Hills, near the CBD.
A business case, that was developed in 2021, to build a new "South West Sydney Communities and Justice Precinct", involved the federal and NSW governments and Campbelltown City Council.
The potential investment in new court facilities is one component of the precinct master plan, but Campbelltown Mayor, George Greiss, said there was still no commitment at state level to start the work.
"Council has been lobbying to improve court facilities at Campbelltown for 20 years and we need to triple capacity to meet future demand.
"We have done the rounds of the politicians' offices with hat in hand and there's still no confirmation and timeline.
"Our community doesn't have proper access to justice, but there's housing developments everywhere around here and the population keeps growing."
The Law Society has lobbied for a new court precinct to be built at Campbelltown since 2018 and frontline staff say the courthouse is no longer fit for purpose.
Demand on Campbelltown increased after Camden Local Court, about 15km away, closed in in February 2022, due to concerns about security and insufficient resources to let witnesses give evidence via audio visual links.
Only 39 per cent of trials at the three District Courts in Western Sydney — Campbelltown, Parramatta, and Penrith — reached a verdict in 12 months, according to the 2021 District Court annual review.
Tanya Whitehouse, manager of the Macarthur Women's Domestic Violence Advocacy Service, said a typical domestic violence list day at Campbelltown, had about 200 matters and last Tuesday there were 215.
Due to lack of space, victims, defendants, their support people, and legal teams sit in a small foyer with narrow corridors, heightening the risk of witness intimidation, she said.
Campbelltown Courthouse has a safe room for protected witnesses and was one of 45 courts state-wide that received some funding to upgrade safe and remote witness rooms in 2021.
However, Ms Whitehouse said the safe room was a converted lawyers robing room with no direct access into court, meaning women must walk back through the foyer, risking confrontation with their violent partners.
"These women are vulnerable, and the current situation is putting too much pressure on sheriffs to try to keep everyone safe," Ms Whitehouse said.
"It's not OK and we need to do better."
Solicitors said there was a safety issue when they try to meet with their clients in the narrow foyer, because there are not enough meeting rooms.
Part of the master plan for the proposed new Justice Precinct includes the federal government considering placing a Family Court at Campbelltown.
Macarthur residents now travel over an hour to Parramatta, the Sydney CBD, Wollongong or Newcastle, and wait about a year to have Family Court matters heard.
Ms Whitehouse said for some domestic violence victims who can't afford a car, using public transport to travel out of the area for Family Court hearings has been inhibiting because they have been on the same train as their former partner.
"People with a Family Court matter usually have related matters in the Local Court or a Tribunal, so it would make sense to have all the courts in one building," she said.
The Children's Court assistance coordinator at Campbelltown, Laura Sutton sits at a desk in a crowded foyer, with no privacy to talk to clients.
Her clients come from Campbelltown and also the Liverpool, Camden, and Wollondilly local government areas.
There are 22 seats in the Children's Court foyer but on a typical recent list day there were 24 children, their families, interpreters, and solicitors, resulting in about 70 people vying for the seats.
"Families of four or five people, some with babies in prams, are sitting on the floor or stairs, until they are moved away by the sheriffs for safety reasons," Ms Sutton said.
"They have to wait outdoors with no shelter, and I see children as young as 14 who have come to court on their own, pacing about outside with nowhere quiet to sit, which makes the court process even more daunting for them."
The NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman would not confirm money for the upgrade or propose any timeline for it.
"The government continuously monitors the suitability of court networks across the state, including the South West Sydney Court Network," he said.
"This includes consideration of possible expansion options for the Campbelltown Courts."
Sydney's other two main court hubs located in the CBD and at Parramatta have had major upgrades.
In the Sydney CBD, $69 million was spent upgrading the Supreme Courts in Queens Square in 2013, the Downing Centre recently had a $10 million upgrade, and Central Local Court on Liverpool Street is now closed for a major upgrade.
The Parramatta Court precinct in the west was revamped in 2008 with a new courtroom built to facilitate one of Australia's longest running terrorism trials.
