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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4253 ..

than to a particular place or with particular conditions. The Administrator then has the authority to make decisions, in the light of many considerations, about where the person is to be held. The Bail Act 1992 is also amended by this Bill to clarify that any inherent power of the Supreme Court to grant bail is abolished.

Along with this amendment it is proposed to amend the Regulations to the Remand Centres Act to make them similar to and consistent with the Prisoners Regulations (NSW) which would allow the Administrator to make classification, placement and/or transfer decisions concerning the remandee.

The Bill amending the Remand Centres Act provides that the Superintendent of a Remand Centre must take into account any recommendations made by a court concerning custody arrangements. (The Bill amending the Magistrates Court Act will enable the transfer of remandees to a NSW institution on the original court warrant remanding the defendant into the custody of the Administrator.) The Bill amending the Remand Centres Act will consequentially amend the Removal of Prisoners Act 1968 to provide that the class of people to which that Act applies will include a person remanded into the custody of the Administrator.

Mr Speaker, the Government recognises that this is by no means a permanent solution. The Government will release soon, a paper which examines and canvasses the ACT's long-term needs for a custodial facility.

But even if we decide to proceed with a prison, it will still not be available for some time. In the meantime we need to be able to manage these problems of accommodation - so that we do not expect remandees to sleep and live in unsatisfactory conditions.

I commend the Bill to the Assembly

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