Page 2669 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 28 June 2011
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of Specific Consultancy Services to Review ACT Corrective Services Governance including in relation to Drug Testing at the Alexander Maconochie Centre—Government response, dated June 2011.
I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Mr Assistant Speaker, today I am tabling in the Assembly the government’s response to the two reports on the AMC. As you will be aware, I tabled both of these reports on 5 April this year.
In October 2009 the government committed to undertake a review of the Alexander Maconochie Centre after 12 months of operation. That commitment was endorsed by an Assembly resolution in February 2010 calling on the government to conduct such a review. In April 2010 the government engaged an independent reviewer, Knowledge Consulting, who are specialists in the field of corrections, to conduct the review.
The review was headed by the Managing Director of Knowledge Consulting, Mr Keith Hamburger AM. Mr Hamburger spent nine years as the Director-General of Corrective Services in Queensland. The review team consisted of a host of other specialists who provided expertise in various areas including health, nutrition, security and finance.
In relation to the first report, the government has welcomed this report. We have examined it in detail and indeed we have already set in place actions to address the review of operations at the AMC. The report made 192 findings and 128 recommendations.
After the time of commissioning the first report, I was made aware of a matter about drug testing of detainees on their admission to the AMC, where I was advised that information about urinalysis testing was incorrect. As you may recall, Mr Assistant Speaker, I took immediate action to disclose this matter to the Assembly and I also took immediate action to have the matter investigated, as a proactive and accountable government should do.
I again engaged the services of Knowledge Consulting to investigate the matter. The second report confirms that I was misinformed about drug testing of detainees on admission to the AMC. Testing on admission in line with the stated policy recommenced shortly after the problem was brought to my attention.
Today, I am tabling a combined government response to both of these reports. When combined, there are 132 recommendations contained in both reports. In response, the government agrees to 102 recommendations, including all five in the second report, and agrees in principle to 31 recommendations. In total, the government agrees or agrees in principle to all the recommendations made in both of these reports.
On the same day that I tabled the reports, I commissioned an AMC task force, headed by the new Executive Director of ACT Corrective Services, for the purpose of advising the government on its response to the reports. The task force has met on five
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