The state government has also launched a new death notification service and upped support at schools for students with disability.
Instead of focusing on upping enforcement action against those causing grief to women on public transport at night, Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) will trial “innovative data and technology ideas” to improve safety for women in Greater Sydney. After running a Safety After Dark Innovation Challenge, TfNSW has settled on a handful of ideas that will be trialled over the next six months, including artificial intelligence in CCTV to automate the detection of threatening behaviours, using datasets and algorithms to create routing that prioritises safety, and a new platform for public safety and assistance. “We want all our customers to feel safe on the network and it is not good enough that 9 out of 10 Australian women experience harassment on the street and modify their behaviour in response,” Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said. “We’re excited to be working with entrepreneurs and universities to implement innovative technology solutions to keep women safe.” TfNSW received 44 applications for the Safety After Dark Innovation Challenge and the winners were selected by a panel after a virtual pitch event. The winners are from the University of Wollongong, data sharing platform She’s a Crowd, safety technology firm Guardian LifeStream, and Cardno/UNSW. Constance said the winners showed potential to “meaningfully address real safety issues” and their ability to use creative and sophisticated new technologies to make a real difference. The state government on Monday also sent its Australian Death Notification Service (ADNS) live.
