Correctional Services (GPS Tracking For Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill
06/03/2013
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (19:55): Whilst I would hope that it is no secret that Dignity for Disability takes the issue of child sex offences very seriously, I speak today against the Hon. Ann Bressington’s bill. I, like other members of this place, appreciate the work she does in this area and her concern for the welfare of children, which is, I am sure, a concern we all share, but I do not believe that the answer is, in this case, to attach GPS tracking devices to sex offenders. I think that would be an incredibly expensive way to keep track of sex offenders and I do not think it would be truly practical in the real world. GPS tracking does not tell us, for example, what someone is doing in a particular location, nor what their motivations or intentions might be for being there.
The money that would be spent on GPS tracking, I believe, could be better spent on rehabilitation for sex offenders or, indeed, to make our courts more accessible to allow children as witnesses therefore making them less likely to be abused because the perpetrator is less likely to get away with it. This is, of course, something that Dignity for Disability has been working very hard on for a long time now. To ensure our children’s safety we must improve other pieces of legislation, indeed all relevant pieces of legislation, and change the culture of a society that does not understand or respond to the vulnerability of our children. I do support the efforts, I support the general principle, but the method I cannot support and therefore I cannot support the bill.
