Elise Archer,Attorney-General and Minister for Corrections
The Tasmanian Government’s dedicated Monitoring and Compliance Unit (MCU) to monitor higher-risk offenders has been in operation for three years today, and has been very successful in making our communities a safer place.
The MCU undertakes all electronic monitoring across Tasmania, as a result of the Tasmanian Liberal Government delivering on our commitment to introduce alternative sentencing options for serious offenders such as home detention.
It has seen its scope of work expand significantly during its time in operation and allows us to keep victim-survivors and the community safe by ensuring offenders’ movements are tracked and stay within the parameters of any court-ordered conditions.
Pleasingly, because of the success of this initiative in Tasmania, the Australian Government yesterday announced a $20 million commitment to roll out a trial of electronic monitoring of family violence perpetrators nationwide.
The MCU is currently monitoring almost 200 individuals across the State, including:
- offenders on home detention orders;
- parolees with electronic monitoring conditions attached to their parole order;
- family violence offenders subject to monitoring conditions; and
- victim-survivors who carry monitoring devices to enhance their personal safety.
The unit has 29 staff operating around the clock 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help keep our communities safe.
I personally thank all involved in the establishment of the MCU, and the current staff for their contribution to the successful operation of the home detention and electronic monitoring scheme, which is helping to keep Tasmanians safe both now and into the future.
