SA govt commits $15m to replace legacy offender IT system

The South Australian government will invest $15 million in a new offender management IT system to improve how information is collected and shared between the state’s law enforcement agencies.

Minister for Correction Services Corey WIngard announced the funding on Wednesday to replace the state’s existing justice information system (JIS), which is more than 30 years old.

The new system, dubbed iSAFE, is expected to improve how the Department of Correctional Services collects, shares and stores offender data that could become “critical intel for [police] operations”.

This information would be accessible to all relevant law enforcement agencies within the state, including SA Police, in real-time to ensure safer decision making.

The government said this “could play a large role in preventing further crimes and potential territory attacks”, and would be made available across the country during unfolding operations

Aside from improved case management, the new system is also expected to remove outdated paper-based processes and improve IT security.

Wingard said the new funding follows an inquiry into Sydney’s 2014 Lindt Café siege that recommended a new system to “enable the speedy transfer of data from one agency to other relevant agencies that might assist in the response to an act of terrorism”.

"iSAFE will make that information more easily accessible to law enforcement agencies charged with public safety," he said.

"There have been a number of high-profile terrorism incidents in Australia in which the offenders were known to correctional services.”

The new system will also go towards fulfilling a 2017 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) commitment that corrections agencies play a more active role in the collection and provision of national intelligence data.

The department will begin developing an acquisition plan in the coming weeks, with a procurement process currently slated for the second half of 2020.

Stage one of iSAFE is expected to be complete by the end of 2022.