The state's new Attorney-General has promised greater support for victims of child sexual abuse, changes to the efficiency and accessibility of the courts and a hardline stance on suppliers of illicit drugs.
Gabrielle Upton, sworn in as the state's first female Attorney-General this month, said improving the experience of victims of child sexual abuse in the justice system was a major priority.
The rising star of the Liberal Party oversaw the child protection system in her previous year-long stint as family and community services minister and said she "particularly responded to what I saw were the needs of kids and teenagers inside the justice system".
"We can do much more to help victims," she said.
Premier Mike Baird and Ms Upton's predecessor, Brad Hazzard, announced a suite of proposed measures before the election to tackle child sexual assault and improve victims' experience in court.
This included increasing the maximum penalty for sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10 from 25 years' imprisonment to life, trialling specialist judges to hear cases and appointing expert "children's champions" to support child witnesses in court.
Ms Upton said she had seen the lifelong devastation wrought by child sexual assault "on the most vulnerable members of our community" when she met adult victims at the royal commission on child sexual abuse.
The University of NSW alumna – and later deputy chancellor – brings a broad range of experience outside politics to her new role.
The mother of two teenagers has a Master of Business Administration and has worked as a solicitor at Sydney firms Freehills and DLA Piper, a Wall Street investment banker at Deutsche Bank, and legal counsel at the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Since her election to the safe Liberal seat of Vaucluse in 2011, replacing former Liberal leader Peter Debnam, Ms Upton has held three portfolios including a brief stint as sport minister following the resignation of fellow first-term MP Graham Annesley in 2013.
Following his elevation to the top job, Mr Baird moved Ms Upton to the difficult but important family and community services portfolio where she was credited with managing the politically fraught sale of Millers Point public housing and winning an increase in federal funding for homelessness services.
In her first days in her new job she flagged potential changes to the courts to "make the system better, fairer and more efficient" including a greater use of IT.
"We've got scarce resources," Ms Upton said. "Part of that is going to be looking at what resources are inside the justice system at the moment."
The NSW Bar Association's criminal law committee has called for a rethink on drug prohibition and will hold a conference to debate the issue in May.
But Ms Upton said she had "a clear view that those who peddle the drugs need to be dealt with more harshly" and the government would "reduce the threshold at which people are considered to be suppliers and dealers in drugs".
