South Australia’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) and Office for Public Integrity has been allocated $10.3 million for new IT systems in the state's 2013-14 budget.
The $10.3 million includes $3.7 million for implementation of the technology and $6.6 million for system support, maintenance and surveillance activities.
SA Premier and Treasurer Jay Weatherill said the funding, which is spread across four years, was on top of a previous commitment of $32 million over five years.
“Our ICAC should have the resources it needs to conduct its investigations in the most thorough way possible,” Weatherill said in a statement.
Attorney-General John Rau added that the ICT systems would provide the Office for Public Integrity with a “first-class” complaints management system and would give the ICAC the capacity to undertake complex investigations.
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The Attorney-General’s department received funding of $78.8 million. Part of this money will provide continued investment for the SA Government radio network, computer-aided dispatch system and completion of the Liquor Licensing IT Systems upgrade.
The SA police received funding of $17.5 million for improvements in IT and communications including the purchase of hand-held computers, a portable fingerprint system and automated number plate recognition system.
In addition, digital CCTV equipment will be purchased to help manage prisoners at metropolitan and regional locations in the state.
The police service received a total of $803.7 million in this year’s budget. The majority of this funding is for 313 extra police officers, with 50 officers to be recruited in 2013-14.
Weatherill said that online predators will be among those targeted by extra police with a dedicated team formed to deal with Internet child exploitation.
“Police will now patrol the Internet just as they patrol our streets,” he said.
“A dedicated team of trained officers will pose as potential victims to find and arrest these criminals before they can commit crimes against our children.”
The Courts Administration Authority also received funding of $3.2 million to provide IT services, court reporting and library services.
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