More than 30 criminals are serving sentences in the community after intensive corrections orders, considered a "last resort" to time behind bars, took the place of periodic detention in Canberra nearly a year ago.
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The latest snapshot of the ACT government's sentencing reform agenda, released on Monday, showed it would forge ahead with plans for a drug court and electronic monitoring of offenders under a continued overhaul of sentencing laws and practices.
The government announced plans to scrap periodic detention in favour of a new community-based alternative to full-time imprisonment, and expand its restorative justice scheme, as part of the justice reform strategy.
An initial report into the scheme said the government would phase out "ineffective and outdated" periodic detention - which had already been repealed in all other states and territories - from last July and consult on a new option which emphasised rehabilitation.
Intensive corrections orders, or ICOs, allow offenders to serve sentences in the community subject to a strict set of restrictions and conditions.
They were designed to reduce the need for prison sentences and better promote community-based rehabilitation, with clear consequences for offenders who breach their requirements.
New ACT Corrective Services figures, also released on Monday, revealed 36 offenders had been handed ICOs, with 33 still on foot, since the orders were introduced in March last year.
The courts had ordered 85 ICO assessment reports, with 20 of those still in progress.
There have been 45 breaches of the orders heard by the Sentence Administration Board, which has the power over ongoing management of people who are subject to an ICO, with 10 offenders breaching their conditions more than once.
Three offenders have had their orders cancelled, the figures showed.
The report said the government would continue to monitor and review the scheme, which was the first major change to the ACT's sentencing framework in a decade, with several minor problems already identified being amended in the legislation.
The justice reform strategy report showed the government had also developed a program to look at costs and options for implementing electronic monitoring of offenders who were handed intensive corrections orders to improve supervision.
Plans were also continuing for a planned specialised drug court as a separate jurisdiction of the ACT Magistrates Court, the report stated.
Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay last week said he would continue to reach out to the judicial and legal community for its expertise in designing and establishing the new court, which he hoped would cut crime by tackling "one of its root causes".
Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury welcomed the phased expansion of the ACT's restorative justice scheme, which brought perpetrators and victims together, to include adult offenders and, eventually, domestic violence and sexual offences.
The report showed 24 adults were referred to the territory's restorative justice unit in the first three months of the expanded program last year, with about eight taking part in the program.
"The extension of the restorative justice scheme to adult offenders is an important development and will allow more victims and offenders to access this process, which has demonstrated effectiveness in meeting the justice needs of victims, reducing their trauma and addressing reoffending behaviour," Mr Rattenbury said.
The government would also look at specialised sentencing reports for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders to provide the sentencing court with extra information about their background and experience as an Indigenous person.
