Tasmania’s family violence electronic monitoring program is tracking 81 perpetrators through GPS ankle devices, while 84 victim-survivors carry duress alarms that alert them if a perpetrator is nearby.
The devices are fitted as a condition of a court-ordered family violence order, with no criminal charge or conviction needed.
The program began in December 2018 and Community Corrections took over monitoring in March 2019, with Executive Director Chris Carney saying numbers had gradually increased since then.
“They don’t need to have charges going through court, they don’t need to be convicted of any particular offence,” Carney said.
He said this made Tasmania’s program more preventative than those in other jurisdictions, giving courts the chance “to address risk before it escalates.”
Tasmania Police apply to the courts for the orders, can live-track perpetrators and respond to all alerts, while a dedicated unit within Community Corrections monitors the devices around the clock.
Carney said the devices had a tamper alert and a strap containing a fibre optic cable and a tension rating of about 184 kilograms.
“They’re tamper-resistant, but they’re not tamper-proof,” he said.
“We do have a number of people who have attempted to cut their devices off and have been successful at cutting their devices off.”
He said the rate was in line with national and international programs and tampering with a device was a breach of a family violence order, which is a criminal offence.
Carney said there was no specific legislative framework for perpetrators to have devices removed after a behaviour change program, but courts could require them to complete one.
A 2021 evaluation by the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies found no significant risks or actual harm among people subject to monitoring and victims carrying devices felt safer.
Carney said no-one had needed to press a duress alarm for a family violence-related incident.
The Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Minister Jo Palmer said ankle monitors were used in other jurisdictions, but in Tasmania there did not have to be a charge or offence.
“We just need to see that it’s a really risky environment and this is an opportunity before any harm is done to be able to put some safety barriers in place for victim survivors,” she said.
Palmer said the program was one part of the government’s response, alongside legislative reforms through the Attorney-General, respectful relationships education in schools and programs in prisons.
“There needs to be a really strong message in our community, which is this is everyone’s responsibility,” she said.
Asked whether frontline services such as Laurel House had enough resources, Palmer said the government was “always looking at the support that we can give.”
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government was “imposing the strictest conditions on family violence offenders to ensure the safety of victim-survivors is put first.”
“This program is a strong example of an effective coordinated response across multiple agencies including Tasmania Police and Community Corrections to reduce family violence risk,” he said.
Rockliff said electronic monitoring supported early intervention and ongoing risk management and the government needed to continue that investment.
“Every Tasmanian has that fundamental right to feel safe and secure and family violence has absolutely no place in the Tasmanian community or indeed any community,” he said.
