In short:
Tasmania Police trialled an AI tool to see whether it could reduce time spent writing reports about family violence incidents.
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it → trialle → incidents
Evaluation showed an almost 50 per cent reduction in writing time, but the US-made tool also introduced errors into reports.
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tool → show → reports
Tasmania Police says a potential rollout of the technology is under review.
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rollout → say → review
An AI tool that helps write reports on family violence incidents reduced police workloads but also introduced errors during a trial of the technology in Tasmania.
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that → help → Tasmania
Draft One, by US firm Axon, is an AI assistant that analyses audio from body-worn cameras and then generates narratives for officers to review, edit and approve.
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officers → analyse → narratives
Documents released under Right to Information show Tasmania Police tested and evaluated the AI product last year to reduce administrative burden on officers.
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Police → release → officers
The first phase of the trial involved Draft One analysing almost 150 randomly selected body-worn camera recordings from historical family violence incidents.
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phase → involve → incidents
The second phase tested the AI tool in Launceston over several months in 2025, comparing human-written reports with ones assisted by the AI tool.
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phase → test → tool
The evaluation showed Draft One reports were written and validated in just 42 minutes, almost twice as fast as the traditional method.
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reports → show → method
Over a year, this would save about 160 weeks of work time and $434,187 in wages, the evaluation found.
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evaluation → save → wages
It suggested millions of dollars could be saved if Draft One was also used for other purposes, including drafting offence reports, child safety reports and crash reports.
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One → suggest → reports
It also noted the AI tool had been able to pick up some potential coercive behaviours that had been missed by officers.
"While Draft One is not a replacement for human judgement, its integration into workflows — supported by mandatory human verification and supervisor oversight — enhances accuracy, consistency, and quality assurance," the evaluation stated.
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evaluation → note → accuracy
Errors introduced during AI analysis
The evaluation also found Draft One occasionally confused names and roles, and, in a small percentage of cases, missed a threat, assault or risk factor.
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One → introduce → threat
In one instance during the first phase of the trial, Draft One wrote that a woman had alleged a person who had a hidden firearm had "previously made threats against her life".
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who → write → life
When an officer reviewed the historical body-worn camera, they said the woman had actually said words similar to: "… no threats or anything like that".
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woman → review → that
The officer suggested Draft One had misinterpreted what was stated because someone else was speaking at the same time.
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someone → suggest → time
According to the evaluation, Draft One performed "exceptionally well" when summarising "straightforward" interactions between a single officer and an individual.
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Draft → accord → officer
However, it said its effectiveness decreased in complex scenarios, including when both partners, children, or other witnesses were present.
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partners → say → scenarios
"In these cases, Draft One occasionally misidentifies roles, omits key details, or generates narratives that are overly verbose and lack clarity,"the evaluation stated.
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evaluation → misidentify → narratives
Tom Sulston, from human rights group Digital Rights Watch, said it was "really worrying" that Draft One had not performed well in complex family violence situations.
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One → say → situations
"It's least functional when it would be most useful," Mr Sulston said.
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Sulston → say → ?
He also pointed to several instances overseas where the AI tool had allegedly made errors.
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tool → point → errors
In one instance, Forbes reported that Draft One had suggested "an officer had shape-shifted into a frog after misinterpreting background audio from [a] Disney film".
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officer → report → film
Mr Sulston also questioned whether police officers would be able to rely on, or refresh their memory from, AI-assisted reports in Australian courts.
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officers → question → courts
Review to consider future rollout
Alina Thomas from Tasmanian family violence support service Engender Equality said AI assistance could be beneficial for police.
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assistance → consider → police
"I think whatever tools they can have with them to be able to assist, that is really helpful," she said.
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she → think → them
But Ms Thomas added that Draft One should not be a substitute for human experience.
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Draft → add → experience
"As long as we're always leading with a human and with a human face and a human's ability to communicate, that's really, really critical."
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that → lead → face
Ms Thomas also suggested protocols should be developed to allow victim-survivors to have a say about whether AI tools are used to analyse incidents involving them.
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tools → suggest → them
The evaluation recommended a phased rollout of Draft One once clear policies governing the ethical use of AI by Tasmania Police were established.
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policies → recommend → Police
It said there would be no need for legislative changes to use the AI tool.
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changes → say → tool
However, it added that funding would need to be secured to licence the tool from Axon, and for additional staff to run the program.
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staff → add → program
A police spokesperson said the future use of Draft One was still under review.
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use → say → review
"Prior to any potential rollout, funding models, further consultation with stakeholders, and additional trials would be undertaken,"they said.
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undertaken,"they → say → stakeholders
Axon has been contacted for comment.
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Axon → contact → comment
The company's website states Draft One does not add any "speculation or embellishments" and that the AI-assisted reports "stick to the facts".
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reports → state → facts
It also says officers must review and add any missing information before approving the reports.
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officers → say → reports
The Aporia