Page 3393 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015

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(1) notes:

(a) the construction of new accommodation facilities at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) designed to accommodate an additional 140 inmates by 2016 and alleviate overcrowding at the AMC;

(b) the ongoing issues with security breaches at the AMC;

(d) the prevalence of illicit drug use and drugs is influencing sentencing decisions made by the ACT court system; and

(2) calls on the ACT Government to implement a thorough review of security and management practices at the AMC to ensure existing issues do not continue in the expanded facilities.

I bring this motion to this place in an effort to once again highlight some of the inefficiencies and issues that plague the ACT’s jail and reiterate my view that a thorough review is necessary.

Firstly I begin by stating some of the obvious facts. The overcrowding issues which have seen the jail at a crisis point over many months are finally being addressed by way of some substantial investment in construction of new accommodation facilities. In the quarter to September 2014 there was a daily average of 334 prisoners in the AMC, a mixture of remand and sentenced. This number has now crept up to nearly 380.

Last week I had the privilege, and I thank the directorate for facilitating it, of a visit to have a look at the new construction work being undertaken at the AMC. It must be said that at first glance it seems that the additional facilities will stand the test of time and go a long way to alleviating some of the intense bed pressures placed on the facility recently. The new facilities will address some of the prisoner movement and segregation issues, as we introduce a more traditional prison block design into the AMC.

That being said, it is also important to ensure that the existing problems at the jail do not continue in an expanded jail. In the time since I brought my last motion on the AMC to this place, which was in March this year, a few notable things have occurred. In April this year, the Auditor-General released a report titled The rehabilitation of male detainees at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. The report focuses on the rehabilitative aspects of the AMC and was damning in its criticism of the lack of rehabilitation activities and effective management practices and rehabilitative options occurring at the jail. The report says:

… the proposed levels of rehabilitation activities and services … were assessed and found to be inadequate. Importantly this means a “structured day” with “purposeful activity” is not being achieved …

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