Greater investigative and legal resources will be sought by the ACT's under-resourced corruption watchdog, with $940,000 provided in the territory budget to grow its capabilities.
The ACT Integrity Commission revealed the breadth of issues it faced in last year's budget estimates, its struggle to recruit suitable personnel and how it would be reaching out to agencies such as the Australian Federal Police for potential secondments to bolster its investigative capability.
In last year's estimates, the commission said that, as an example, it had more than a million documents to examine in its investigation into rich contracts awarded by the Canberra Institute of Technology. This was one of eight investigations it was undertaking.
A review of the commission and its governing legislation is being conducted by Ian Govey AM, the former chief executive of the Australian Government Solicitor, with Integrity Commissioner Michael Adams QC flagging a need to extend the watchdog's powers to include telephone intercepts.
The signing of a new agreement between the ACT government and the federal police last year set in motion negotiations which have yielded funding for a steady drip-feed of additional staff through to 2027-28, with $74.3 million specifically directed to recruitment.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the $161 million in total going to ACT Policing was, to his memory, "the biggest investment in police since self-government".
This allocation would effectively fund an extra recruit class of sworn officers per year through the AFP College at Barton, although the ACT is in fierce competition for those potential recruits with other, better-paying jurisdictions.
While police finally have moved into their new Traffic Operations facilities at Hume, urgent funding has also been allocated to patching up some of its older facilities. Included in this budget is funding for seeking out a potential new site in the city to replace the ageing Winchester Police Centre at Belconnen, and an alternative to the heritage-listed City Police Station on London Circuit.
ACT Corrections has received $7.1 million in funding which will help it recruit 19 more staff, including 15 custodial officers and an intelligence officer. There will be $3.8 million allocated for employee assistance programs, training, and items such as personal protection equipment (PPE).
A new master plan will be developed for Canberra's jail but this won't bring an increase in its footprint. Instead, the Justice and Community Safety (JACS) directorate would look to make better use of the prison's existing infrastructure and examine what will be needed at the site in the next 10 to 15 years.
The budget also detailed a significant blowout in daily detainee costs in Canberra's minimum-to-maximum prison. It now costs $554 per day to keep a prisoner incarcerated, up from $470 previously.
One potential "safety valve" for the prison is a fresh JACS investigation into electronic tagging. Funding has been allocated to a fresh scoping study, which will engage a consultant and examine how such systems operate in other jurisdictions. New tagging technology has become available in recent years and the results of this study may lead to a future pilot program.
The Emergency Services Agency has emerged as one of the big winners in the budget, receiving funding for a new joint fire and ambulance facility in the Molonglo Valley, and funds for scoping a new station in Casey to service Gungahlin. ESA has also received $3.4 million for its firefighter recruitment, and is well-funded to replace pumpers and other equipment in the years ahead.
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