The Queensland Government will track known sex offenders using GPS technology by next year.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says that $2.2 million will be set aside in the state budget to introduce the technology, which will monitor the locations of former prisoners under supervision orders.
All qualifying offenders – currently at 70, with a further 16 up for possible release in the next 12 months – will have GPS devices by the first half of 2012, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
"These people are the worst of the worst. These are the people that our courts determine cannot be released back into the community without strict supervision," she told reporters.
Currently, supervised offenders are monitored using a radio-based monitoring system that alerts authorities if they break curfew, but Ms Bligh said that the government wanted to keep pace with technology.
Corrective Services Minister Neil Roberts said the technology provided another layer of protection for children but would not replace the vigilance of staff who monitor sex offenders in the community.
Queensland Corrective Services commissioner Kelvin Anderson said GPS still had some limitations, requiring satellite and phone coverage to work, but that Corrective Services would go to market to look for the best technology that would stand up to scrutiny.
The program is expected to cost $13.7 million over the next four years.
