Drug and alcohol testing to improve public safety

People serving community-based sentences or on bail will think twice before reoffending while using alcohol or drugs with the introduction of a bill that allows them to be tested, Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

The Drug and Alcohol Testing of Community-based Offenders and Bailees Bill will enable Police and Corrections to require certain community-based offenders and people on bail to undergo alcohol or drug testing.

Until now, compliance with abstinence conditions has been difficult to monitor because there has been no explicit legal authority to require offenders or people on bail to submit to testing. Under the amendments in the bill, they can be directed to undergo testing or submit to continuous monitoring.

“Drug and alcohol misuse are major drivers of crime,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“This bill will enable Corrections and Police to better manage offenders and those on bail who have a condition that they are not to consume drugs or alcohol. This in turn will reduce reoffending and improve public safety.”

Every year, around 4000 offenders on community sentences and orders and 15,000 people on bail have drug and alcohol conditions imposed.  Around 60 per cent of community offenders have an identified alcohol or drug problem.

“They must be deterred from using these triggers that lead to reoffending when they are in the community,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“I am committed to the Better Public Service target of reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017. This bill will help achieve this.”