❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Attorney General about the GPS tracking trial for FDV offenders, its outcomes, and staffing. The Attorney General provides preliminary findings, highlighting increased GPS tracking usage post-trial and ongoing evaluation.
AnsweredQoN 635Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE OFFENDERS — GPS TRACKING
635. Ms L. METTAM to the Attorney General:
I refer to the WA Labor government's
$15.5 million, two-year GPS tracking trial for family and domestic violence
offenders that was launched in August 2020 and concluded more than 12 months
ago. So far, the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence has
been unable to answer simple questions about this.
The SPEAKER : Member, you
cannot run an argument or commentary in your question. You can have a preamble
in order to make your question intelligible, but I urge you to ask the question
appropriately of the Attorney General and not to include criticism, real or
otherwise, of other members.
Ms L. METTAM : I ask the
following questions.
(1) What was the total number of FDV
offenders subject to GPS tracking during the trial period?
(2) Are any FDV offenders in WA
still subject to GPS tracking; and, if not, why not?
(3) What has
happened to the additional 15 adult community corrections staff and two
dedicated, around-the-clock police officers announced as part of the trial?
VIOLENCE OFFENDERS — GPS TRACKING
635. Ms L. METTAM to the Attorney General:
I refer to the WA Labor government's
$15.5 million, two-year GPS tracking trial for family and domestic violence
offenders that was launched in August 2020 and concluded more than 12 months
ago. So far, the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence has
been unable to answer simple questions about this.
The SPEAKER : Member, you
cannot run an argument or commentary in your question. You can have a preamble
in order to make your question intelligible, but I urge you to ask the question
appropriately of the Attorney General and not to include criticism, real or
otherwise, of other members.
Ms L. METTAM : I ask the
following questions.
(1) What was the total number of FDV
offenders subject to GPS tracking during the trial period?
(2) Are any FDV offenders in WA
still subject to GPS tracking; and, if not, why not?
(3) What has
happened to the additional 15 adult community corrections staff and two
dedicated, around-the-clock police officers announced as part of the trial?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) As
to the last question, I will wait for my friend and colleague the Minister for
Corrective Services to return to the chamber. I would be asking his empty chair
at the moment.
It is a very serious question. The
two-year FDV GPS tracking trial was an election commitment, as the member
stated in her question. The department is evaluating the data from those
packages. The evaluation is examining three key questions: Was the trial
implemented as intended? Was the trial aligned with best practice? Did the
trial achieve the intended community safety outcomes? I have asked the
Department of Justice to provide me with its findings. I have a document called Evaluation of the FDV GPS tracking trial—Early insights . It is
not the final report. As the member said, the trial ran for two years. It has
been a year since the trial ended, but some people were put on the trial
towards the end of the two years, so those people had to be tracked for a period
after the conclusion of the trial. It would not be right to include someone in the twenty-third month and then conclude
and report because the department would not know what had happened to
that individual. I expect to receive a comprehensive evaluation in the coming
months. In the meantime, most of the answers to the member's inquiries
are set out in this preliminary report, which I now table.
[See paper 2231 .]
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I refer to
the key findings of that report. GPS tracking conditions were imposed on 137 FDV offenders in 159 cases throughout the
two-year trial. There is no end date on the legislative amendments that enabled the GPS tracking of FDV offenders—that is there forever. The take-up of
the new GPS tracking option for FDV offenders
has continued to increase since the trial ended and more people have gone on
that program. In fact, almost double the number of offenders had GPS
tracking devices fitted in the year following the trial than the average number
during the trial period. We have doubled the number of people with GPS tracking
in one year since the conclusion of the trial. Since August 2022, 122 FDV
offenders had been fitted with GPS tracking. The department advises me that
with a new sentencing option such as this, it takes time for the courts and
other stakeholders to ramp up awareness of the program. As the judiciary and
more stakeholders become aware of it, we expect a bigger take-up, with more
tracking devices ordered to be fitted.
The Commissioner for Victims of
Crime has been actively engaged in supporting victims involved in the trial and
monitoring their perceptions. In 83 per cent of cases in which GPS monitoring
conditions were being considered, 60 per cent of victims wanted tracking
imposed. The preliminary report shows that GPS tracking has not been limited to
offenders who breached a family violence restraining order with a further act
of family violence, which was the initial parameter, and that 19 offenders who
met this specific criterion were tracked during the trial. Early analysis of
the data indicates that at least 118 additional FDV offenders were tracked in
the trial period, taking it to a total of 137 offenders tracked during the
trial, with the monitoring condition imposed on 159 occasions. I particularly
thank the Commissioner for Victims of Crime, Ms Kati Kraszlan, and the Western Australian
Office of Crime Statistics and Research.
That was another initiative of the Labor government on coming to power—not
to introduce policies based just on guesswork but to have an Office of Crime
Statistics and Research to guide us on policy issues. I thank them for
expediting the Early insights paper for Parliament. I look forward to
receiving the final report, which I will table in due course.
to the last question, I will wait for my friend and colleague the Minister for
Corrective Services to return to the chamber. I would be asking his empty chair
at the moment.
It is a very serious question. The
two-year FDV GPS tracking trial was an election commitment, as the member
stated in her question. The department is evaluating the data from those
packages. The evaluation is examining three key questions: Was the trial
implemented as intended? Was the trial aligned with best practice? Did the
trial achieve the intended community safety outcomes? I have asked the
Department of Justice to provide me with its findings. I have a document called Evaluation of the FDV GPS tracking trial—Early insights . It is
not the final report. As the member said, the trial ran for two years. It has
been a year since the trial ended, but some people were put on the trial
towards the end of the two years, so those people had to be tracked for a period
after the conclusion of the trial. It would not be right to include someone in the twenty-third month and then conclude
and report because the department would not know what had happened to
that individual. I expect to receive a comprehensive evaluation in the coming
months. In the meantime, most of the answers to the member's inquiries
are set out in this preliminary report, which I now table.
[See paper 2231 .]
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I refer to
the key findings of that report. GPS tracking conditions were imposed on 137 FDV offenders in 159 cases throughout the
two-year trial. There is no end date on the legislative amendments that enabled the GPS tracking of FDV offenders—that is there forever. The take-up of
the new GPS tracking option for FDV offenders
has continued to increase since the trial ended and more people have gone on
that program. In fact, almost double the number of offenders had GPS
tracking devices fitted in the year following the trial than the average number
during the trial period. We have doubled the number of people with GPS tracking
in one year since the conclusion of the trial. Since August 2022, 122 FDV
offenders had been fitted with GPS tracking. The department advises me that
with a new sentencing option such as this, it takes time for the courts and
other stakeholders to ramp up awareness of the program. As the judiciary and
more stakeholders become aware of it, we expect a bigger take-up, with more
tracking devices ordered to be fitted.
The Commissioner for Victims of
Crime has been actively engaged in supporting victims involved in the trial and
monitoring their perceptions. In 83 per cent of cases in which GPS monitoring
conditions were being considered, 60 per cent of victims wanted tracking
imposed. The preliminary report shows that GPS tracking has not been limited to
offenders who breached a family violence restraining order with a further act
of family violence, which was the initial parameter, and that 19 offenders who
met this specific criterion were tracked during the trial. Early analysis of
the data indicates that at least 118 additional FDV offenders were tracked in
the trial period, taking it to a total of 137 offenders tracked during the
trial, with the monitoring condition imposed on 159 occasions. I particularly
thank the Commissioner for Victims of Crime, Ms Kati Kraszlan, and the Western Australian
Office of Crime Statistics and Research.
That was another initiative of the Labor government on coming to power—not
to introduce policies based just on guesswork but to have an Office of Crime
Statistics and Research to guide us on policy issues. I thank them for
expediting the Early insights paper for Parliament. I look forward to
receiving the final report, which I will table in due course.
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