‘A practice that must stop’: Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny comes down hard on private bail tracking companies
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny has announced she has directed her department for “urgent advice” to end the contracts of private companies who use electronic monitoring to track people on bail.
Victoria
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The Allan government will put a ban on private companies being approved by Victorian courts to track people on bail.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny on Thursday afternoon announced she had directed her department to provide urgent advice amid “extremely concerning” reports that eight people on bail had been going unmonitored for more than a week.
“It is entirely inappropriate that private companies offer these kind of services for these purposes and we will be taking steps to stop it,” she said.
It comes after private tracking company BailSafe Australia failed to alert authorities to the fact that it had shut down more than a week ago.
As a result, police are now scrambling to locate the eight alleged criminals who were supposedly being monitored by the company through electronic monitoring.
“These matters are being individually assessed to determine the most appropriate course of action, including any immediate compliance checks that are required,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
Police will now doorknock those alleged criminals to ensure they are complying with their conditions and may revoke bail in some cases, Ms Kilkenny said.
She refused to provide information as to what charges they may be facing.
Ms Kilkenny was also unable to say exactly how many private bail companies operate in Victoria, and conceded that she only learned they exist after receiving a media inquiry this week.
“It will not continue,” she said.
Despite the concerning revelation, Ms Kilkenny said Victoria Police still conducted daily check-ins on people on bail.
Shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien slammed Ms Kilkenny for not addressing the scandal until late Thursday.
“She might be a part time Attorney-General because she’s got her planning portfolio which she’s clearly more interested in but the Attorney-General is the first law officer in Victoria,” he said.
“She’s obligated to come out and answer questions about her government’s absolute failure to regulate this industry which has led to this collapse which means Victorians are less safe.”
Originally published as ‘A practice that must stop’: Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny comes down hard on private bail tracking companies
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