Queensland's worst sex offenders will be tracked with GPS technology by next year.
Premier Anna Bligh says $2.2 million will be set aside in next week's state budget to introduce the technology, which will monitor the whereabouts of former prisoners under supervision orders.
She said 70 offenders now living in
the community would begin to be fitted with the devices by the end of the year.
A further 16 up for possible release from jails over the next 12 months could also qualify.
All qualifying offenders will have devices by the first half of 2012.
"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.
The offenders are already subject to supervision and a radio-based monitoring system that alerts authorities if they break curfews, but Ms Bligh said the government wanted to keep pace with technology.
She said the move was not a reaction to a public campaign for the technology, saying she had wanted to bring the program in last year but the state couldn't afford it then.
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.
"This type of monitoring forms the backbone of Queensland's sex offender supervision regime," he said.
"We give these offenders no quarter.
"If they do not comply with the terms of their supervision order, swift action is taken by corrective services personnel, including returning to jail."
Queensland Corrective Services commissioner Kelvin Anderson said GPS still had some limitations, requiring satellite and phone coverage to work.
But he said Corrective Services would go to market to look for the best technology that would stand up to scrutiny.
The program is expected to cost US$13.7 million over the next four years.
Opposition Deputy Leader Tim Nicholls welcomed the decision but said the government had only acted because of public pressure.
"Clearly the government has been found wanting and has had to react in order to meet the dictates of the media cycle rather than planning for the future as a competent and effective government should do," he told reporters.
- AAP
