GPS trackers will be slapped on high-risk domestic and family violence perpetrators across Australia as part of a $20m trial to better protect victims.
In a sweeping set of announcements ahead of the March 29 budget, the federal government will seek to assist victims reclaim online power, while inhibiting perpetrators from exploiting technology and ignoring court orders.
Under the fourth phase of the “Stop it at the Start” campaign, the government will spend $150m in a bid to end family, domestic and sexual violence.
Part of the funding includes $20m to help states and territories trial GPS tracking to monitor the movement of perpetrators.
It follows a trial in Tasmania has proved “highly successful”, and improved police response times and reduced dangerous incidents, stalking and threats.
Women’s Safety Minister Anne Ruston said perpetrators were flagrantly ignoring the conditions of courts orders and continuing to be violent towards victims.
“Electronic monitoring is not the panacea to keep women safe, but it is another tool in the tool kit as we seek to address the full cycle of violence across prevention, early intervention, response and recovery,” Senator Ruston said.
The GPS monitoring program would be implemented as a condition of some intervention orders.
It provides a victim with a device that creates a “buffer zone” around them to alert police when a perpetrator comes too close.
“In Tasmania, they have done a fair bit to identify what they call ‘high risk offenders’, they are usually people who already have an apprehended violence order against them,” Senator Ruston told Sky News.
“They’ve already been charged with a domestic or family violence incident. So it is making sure that at the pointy end, when we know that people are likely to possibly escalate to even more serious violence, that we’re intervening there so it doesn’t end up with a situation where we wake up to the horrible news that there has been a death.”
The funding will also help establish exclusion zones around victims’ homes, workplaces and their children’s schools that move with them in real time.
The government will also spend more than $54m to increase security measures for survivors in their own homes.
The safety planning includes sweeping for spyware, installing security and dash cameras, and providing safe phones for 30,000 women over the next five years.
A further $26m will be spent on online safety initiatives.
Senator Ruston said perpetrators were increasingly using technology as a weapon.
“Through this package the Morrison government will help victim-survivors ensure their personal devices are safe to use, and that technology is part of the solution to help them live free of violence,” she said.
“We hear all too often that perpetrators flagrantly ignore the conditions of family violence and intervention orders and continue to be violent, harass and stalk their victims.”
