Correctional Services Monitoring Device Outage

In reply to the Hon. C. BONAROS (7 November 2018).

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing): The Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services has been advised:

On 2 November 2018, the Department for Correctional Services' (DCS) Intensive Compliance Unit lost all communications with offenders via the electronic monitoring system due to a Telstra hardware failure.

DCS' main priority during the outage was community safety and in particular, the safety and wellbeing of registered victims. When the outage occurred, DCS implemented contingency plans including implementing additional resources, and undertaking manual checks of offenders, via telephone calls and home visits, to confirm their locations. With the assistance of South Australia Police, higher risk offenders were targeted with additional checks and visits. A thorough review of victim and intervention order matters was undertaken to inform any relevant actions. No specific risk was identified that necessitated contact with a registered victim.

Retrospective checks undertaken since the outage identified no breaches in relation to registered victims, reflecting the success of DCS' contingency plans.