GPS tracking devices fitted to sex offenders in Queensland

The Queensland government has awarded a contract for the supply of GPS monitoring technology to track sex offenders across the state.

Corrective services minister, Neil Roberts, said the procurement process ended with the selection of ABAKUS Elmotech being awarded the contract to supply units to Queensland Correctional Services (QCS) from November.

“As part of the procurement process, QCS conducted a week long trial [that]...tested four GPS devices in a range of areas and under a number of conditions,” he said.

“This included testing exclusion zones, which when fitted to offenders will include places such as schools, to test whether an alert would be sent to QCS.

“QCS also tested the signal strength of devices in areas such as the city, tunnels and regional locations.”

The GPS units will be fitted to offenders as an additional monitoring tool for correctional services staff, with the project costing $13.7 million over four years.

Roberts said the total cost of the project includes increased staff to monitor the project 24 hours a day.

"All sex offenders fitted with GPS will be tracked on a 24/7 basis, with a specialist surveillance team working around the clock to monitor their movements,” he said.

The former NSW state government earlier this year pledged that state courts would get the power to keep high-risk domestic violence offenders under constant surveillance with GPS tracking devices.

The plan is part of a $15.6 million package of measures designed to combat domestic and sexual violence unveiled by Premier Kristina Keneally on Tuesday.

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