Latest news with #FamilyViolenceLegislationReformAct
The Age
01-05-2025
- The Age
WA prisons boss revoked support for GPS tracking in regional areas
The Commissioner of Corrective Services Brad Royce wrote to WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch, warning that his agency could no longer support GPS tracking of family and domestic violence offenders in regional WA because of 'unacceptable risks' with response times if the trackers fault. In the April 11 letter, obtained by the opposition, Royce said issues with GPS tracking in metro areas could be resolved promptly, but regional areas posed a risk to victims of the offenders. 'In regional and remote locations, delayed responses to these issues create an unacceptable risk, particularly critical in family and domestic violence cases, where immediate action can be necessary to prevent harm to victims,' he said. 'This is especially problematic at night or on weekends when [Adult Community Corrections] do not have the capacity to respond beyond the metropolitan area. 'In addition to responding to breach alerts, having the ability to address equipment failures, charging issues, or signal loss, are essential for effective monitoring. 'Accordingly, I am now providing formal advice that ACC will not recommend or support the use of electronic monitoring under the Family Violence Legislation Reform Act in any location other than the Perth metropolitan area.' The act, which came into effect in December last year, mandates GPS tracking of family violence offenders granted bail, but its effectiveness in regional areas have dogged the state government for several weeks. Royce said the advice he provided to Blanch had also been provided to the Chief Magistrate, District Court Judge Wager, the Prisoner's Review Board and the office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime.
Sydney Morning Herald
01-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
WA prisons boss revoked support for GPS tracking in regional areas
The Commissioner of Corrective Services Brad Royce wrote to WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch, warning that his agency could no longer support GPS tracking of family and domestic violence offenders in regional WA because of 'unacceptable risks' with response times if the trackers fault. In the April 11 letter, obtained by the opposition, Royce said issues with GPS tracking in metro areas could be resolved promptly, but regional areas posed a risk to victims of the offenders. 'In regional and remote locations, delayed responses to these issues create an unacceptable risk, particularly critical in family and domestic violence cases, where immediate action can be necessary to prevent harm to victims,' he said. 'This is especially problematic at night or on weekends when [Adult Community Corrections] do not have the capacity to respond beyond the metropolitan area. 'In addition to responding to breach alerts, having the ability to address equipment failures, charging issues, or signal loss, are essential for effective monitoring. 'Accordingly, I am now providing formal advice that ACC will not recommend or support the use of electronic monitoring under the Family Violence Legislation Reform Act in any location other than the Perth metropolitan area.' The act, which came into effect in December last year, mandates GPS tracking of family violence offenders granted bail, but its effectiveness in regional areas have dogged the state government for several weeks. Royce said the advice he provided to Blanch had also been provided to the Chief Magistrate, District Court Judge Wager, the Prisoner's Review Board and the office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime.
