Serco’s ‘use of algorithms without oversight’ must end, says the Greens’ Nick McKim, after a Guardian Australia investigation found its SRAT tool was ‘unscientific’.Serco’s ‘use of algorithms without oversight’ must end, says the Greens’ Nick McKim, after a Guardian Australia investigation found its SRAT tool was ‘unscientific’.The Security Risk Assessment Tool – or SRAT – attempts to calculate a detainee’s “risk” for behaviours such as violence, escape or self-harm.
Human rights commissioner Lorraine Finlay said the AHRC has “consistently expressed concerns” about the SRAT and questioned whether it leads to restrictive measures that “are not necessary, reasonable, or proportionate”. Some detainees who the AHRC found were wrongly assessed as high risk due to inaccurate SRATs were placed in high security compounds where they were assaulted.
Multiple sources familiar with the system said SRAT ratings rarely go backwards from high to low, even for detainees who have “long periods of perfect behaviour”.