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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-30 Daily Xml
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PRISONER HOME DETENTION

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition and the minister will please refrain from arguing across the floor.

Mr BIGNELL: Can the minister inform the house about the protocols and processes around home detention?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Gambling) (14:43): I thank the member for Mawson for his question and his keen interest in public safety. Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition asked if prisoners are being placed on home detention before the end of their nonparole period.

Home detention has proved to be a valuable alternative to prison in South Australia since its introduction in 1986. The program was conceived to support the graduated release of prisoners back into the community, and it is one of the department's most intensive and successful community-based programs. The success of the program can be directly attributed to the strict eligibility criteria that has been developed and legislated. This is reflected by a high success completion rate, which in 2009-10 was 92 per cent, as compared to 82.25 per cent in 2001-02.

All applications are critically assessed and the Parole Board is consulted prior to home detention been granted. If the prisoner—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Patience. If the prisoner was deemed unsuitable for parole, this determination would be made prior to the prisoner being granted home detention and home detention would not be granted. The Rann government actually toughened the home detention scheme significantly in 2005, making the criteria stricter for prisoners applying to complete their sentence this way. To be eligible for home detention there are strict requirements. These include:

the prisoner must have, or soon be eligible for, a low-security rating;

they cannot be serving a sentence for an indeterminate duration;

they must have served at least half of the nonparole period or, if no nonparole period was fixed, must have served at least half of the total sentence;

they cannot be released earlier than one year prior to the end of the nonparole period if the prisoner has a set nonparole period, or one year prior to the end of sentence if no nonparole period has been set;

they must not be serving a sentence for homicide, sex offences or terrorist offences;

they must not be serving a sentence for breach of bail or parole that is related to homicide, sex offences or terrorist offences; and

prisoners must be able to nominate an appropriate address.

In addition, the department considers the following:

any positive urinalysis result in the last three months;

incidents and behaviour whilst in prison;

court sentencing remarks;

risk to the community; and

any other relevant matters.

Prisoners released to home detention are not allowed to leave their place of residence without the approval of their home detention officer. They are also required to comply with a number of conditions that are rigorously monitored and applied. These conditions may include electronic monitoring, random phone calls throughout the day and night, and abstinence from alcohol and drugs. Breaches of any home detention condition will likely result in the immediate return to prison and subsequent imprisonment.

Home detainees have a structured day. That means they must have a job to go to or a course of education or training. Where a prisoner or an offender is otherwise considered to be suitable for home detention but cannot meet this requirement, voluntary community service can be ordered to provide them with the opportunity to make restitution and gain vocational skills that may lead to employment.

Prisoners on home detention who are coming up to the end of their nonparole period and are not eligible for automatic parole must receive Parole Board approval for their release to parole.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sorry?

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will not respond to questions across the floor at this stage.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It was Norwood.

The SPEAKER: You are already answering one question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: You can notice him by the feathers.

The SPEAKER: The member for Norwood is being very naughty and he will hear about it afterwards.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The Chief Executive of the Department for Correctional Services can revoke home detention and return a prisoner to prison for breaching conditions of home detention. If at the end of home detention parole is not granted, the offender will be returned to prison.

The second part of the Leader of the Opposition's question yesterday was about the opposition being informed about the government overturning a longstanding practice that prisoners should not be placed on home detention until after the end of their nonparole period. The last Leader of the Opposition, having been informed about practices in prison, the issue was raised by the member for Unley. The member for Unley asked a question about a group called CRIMINON, and that went incredibly bad for them as well.

To set the leader straight, I have been advised that there has been no change to DCS protocols with regard to when a prisoner with a set nonparole period can be released to home detention. The legislation clearly sets out the eligibility criteria for home detention and parole, and I can assure all members of the house that the strict program criteria for home detention and the stringent monitoring procedures will continue under my watch. The safety of the community will remain paramount.

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