The federal department responsible for the operation to keep watch on the convicted criminals released after last year’s High Court decision is refusing to reveal who is responsible for drone surveillance on them. Under pressure to explain the decision by his departmental delegate to exempt convicted murderers from ankle bracelet monitoring, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles made a surprise disclosure that drones were being used in some cases .
SBS World News asked the Home Affairs Department which agency or law enforcement authority was manning the drones, and asked for a yes or no answer to the question of whether any drones have actually been deployed. A response was received late Saturday afternoon, it did not address the specific questions.