ACT government has funded a $297,000 study into electronic monitoring of offenders

Active electronic tracking of offenders, usually via an non-removeable ankle bracelet, has been used by justice systems around the world for decades and is seen as a means of ensuring offenders do not break curfews or court-issued directions, or enter areas where they are not permitted by court order.

The ACT first introduced electronic monitoring back in 2001, seven years before Canberra's first dedicated minimum-to-maximum jail, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, admitted its first prisoners.

This was supposed to be a three-year program applied to offenders who received a sentence of 18 months or less.

It was seen as a means of allowing offenders to serve their sentence at home, potentially participate in employment and/or study, and maintain family connections.

But when the GPS-tagging program was reviewed in 2004, it quietly was dropped due to, as Corrections Minister Mick Gentleman later described, "low referral and uptake rates, as well as a low completion rate".

ACT Corrections again explored the feasibility of electronic tagging in 2016-17 as the prison population grew exponentially. The assessment sought input from other jurisdictions where tagging has been used for many years.

But that second attempt failed at the first hurdle.

"Electronic Monitoring (EM) was not pursued further due to a range of limiting factors, including technological limitations, potential service delivery and outcome issues, and resource implications," Minister Gentleman told the ACT Assembly last year.

Police supported the idea, as it would greatly reduce the resource drain of physically knocking on doors for bail compliance.

The ACT's chief police officer, Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan, told a Legislative Assembly inquiry into dangerous driving last year there was merit to mandating tracking devices for people released back into the community.

"Every jurisdiction in Australia uses that except us, which I find quite interesting. I think it's certainly something worth considering, as another option for bail, for instance. There's a potential for a middle ground there," Deputy Commissioner Gaughan said.

"It's very precise, it's very small. It doesn't look intrusive like they used to. Someone can go about their daily business and no one will even know they've got a tag on."

MORE CRIME NEWS:

Attorney General Shane Rattenbury described it as neither a high nor a low priority.

ACT criminologist Dr Lorana Bartels was supportive of introducing the measure in her submission to the ACT inquiry into community corrections in 2021, describing how it was "a cost-effective alternative to imprisonment and may also reduce social welfare dependence".

However, she also flagged concerns around "the involvement of private companies in the management of offenders in the community; net-widening; offenders' loss of privacy and experience of stigma; and the inflexibility of EM requirements".

A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that a key advantage of electronic monitoring was to reduce prison populations, a recurring issue at Canberra's jail, which is constantly in breach of its design intention to keep separate sentenced prisoners from those on remand or awaiting trial.

"Major cost savings may be achieved through building fewer prisons as well as reducing the cost of administering custodial sentences," the study found.

"It also avoids any negative psychological effects of incarceration, although of course the wearing of a device carries its own psychological pressures."

The downside is that monitoring has no physical restraints on offenders, which puts more pressure on the courts to ensure that any assessment of the likelihood of re-offending - particularly in relation to sexual and/or family violence offences - is comprehensive and accurate.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.