One in four people who purchased GPS tracking devices since 2023 have a history of domestic violence, according to a new report by the NSW Crime Commission.

An investigation into the criminal use of surveillance devices has found they are being used by organised criminal networks to facilitate organised crime, and extensively by high-risk domestic and family violence offenders.

The data, obtained from a range of retailers who sold 5,500 GPS tracking devices to 3,000 unique customers, found 25 per cent were known to police for domestic violence-related incidents. 

In NSW, it is an offence to install a tracking device to track someone without their consent.

Isla's home was previously bugged by an abusive ex-partner who also tracked her car and stalked her in six different vehicles.

The Newcastle woman said the device put on her car had its own SIM card, which was activated by the offender and meant police were eventually able to link it back to him.

"The violation of a basic human right is absolutely vile. To know that someone was watching my location constantly on their phone, on their computer and not only watching where I was going but was using that information to turn up basically nearly every day at whatever location I would be at," Isla said.

Between 2010 and 2023, 82 per cent of offenders in NSW charged with unlawfully using a tracking device were committing domestic violence offences.

NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes said tracking devices were now part of standard toolkit for violent organised crime and their widespread use by domestic and family violence offenders was an urgent issue.

"Domestic violence perpetrators use tracking devices as part of a series of behaviours intended to intimidate, frighten, and control their intimate partners," Commissioner Barnes said.

The report also found the use of tracking devices in domestic and family violence offending is grossly under-reported and under-prosecuted.

Technology-facilitated abuse 'not being taken seriously'

In 2022, the Australian National Research Organisation on Women Safety (ANROWS) found one in three individuals who experienced technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) did not tell anyone about their experience, and more than 90 per cent did not report their experience to police.

ANROWS said support service workers described it as a growing issue for their clients and expressed concerns over the adequacy of current responses.

"These include difficulty in finding up-to-date information, TFA not being taken seriously by police and courts, and inadequate responses from technology providers," the report said.

Commissioner Barnes said retailers should be required to record the name, and serial number of the device when sold to make it easier for law enforcement to identify who owns the devices.

"It's a device that has a unique serial number, and when it has a SIM card, it also has an IMEI number that could, and we suggest should, be recorded.

"The victim of stalking might find a tracking device, usually on her vehicle, but she can't prove who put it there, because there's no distinguishing feature that's been recorded in any of the records. She might suspect it's her estranged partner who's been acting in other ways that are inappropriate, but she can't prove that, and nor can police."