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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4251 ..

as not providing explicitly that the Administrator of the Remand Centre has the power to order the transfer. In the absence of the explicit provision it was held that the power to do so resided not in the Administrator, but in the court.

In making its decision the Court also approached the surrounding circumstances - that is, the overcrowding - as a judicial issue.

As I have mentioned, it had always been thought that the Administrator had the legal power to make decisions about accommodation of remandees. However, as far as we know, this had not been tested in the years since the Belconnen Remand Centre became available.

The ACT population has grown, however, and occasional overcrowding problems will occur. In the light of the court decision, the Government has considered the problem very carefully. There are very good reasons why the power and the responsibility for the location of a person remanded in custody should remain with the Administrator.

First, it is the Administrator who is in a position to take into consideration all the matters which this decision requires. These include the availability of accommodation, the safety of all persons held in custody, and the requirements about the separation of prisoners or remandees.

Separation of prisoners and remandees must be achieved in relation to a number of factors such as age, sex of the person, mental health, and the need for protection. In considering the needs of selected individuals it is also necessary to consider the needs of the system as a whole, because this includes the safety of the individuals within it. Further, a remandee may be so disruptive that the Remand Centre is not in a position to manage the person. New South Wales may well have a facility with an environment better suited for the needs of the person. These are decisions taken every day by Administrators in other jurisdictions.

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