Page 3394 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015
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After spending some time in the last month visiting jails in other jurisdictions, I can tell you that a “structured day” for a prisoner is very important in any correctional facility. The jails that I visited had a comprehensive industry and educational focus, meaning that prisoners spend most of their day outside their cells and active in purposeful activity. Whilst I understand that introducing industry at the AMC would require some creative and innovative thought, it is not beyond the realm of possibility. We must not just throw our hands up in the air and give up.
We know that the existing minister’s view on a review of the jail is quite widely stated. He simply thinks that it will not tell us anything we do not already know. I emphasise that simply being told what we do not know is not the sole purpose for a review; it also gives us the opportunity to investigate alternatives. The Auditor-General’s report said:
… there is a very large gap between what was anticipated and what has occurred since the opening of the AMC.
The AMC was opened in 2009.
The report claims that fewer than one in two male detainees spend time working. Whether working or not, detainees spend on average no more than an hour a week on therapeutic programs, two hours a week on educational programs, and two hours a week with family and other visitors, with each detainee having a structured time of five hours, on average—significantly less than the 30 hours envisaged in 2007 in the delivery strategy. The report’s unsurprising conclusion is that there is a risk that detainees become bored, and that this undermines rehabilitative efforts.
Whilst they have not been as much in the spotlight lately, security breaches are a common occurrence, as is the use of illicit drugs in the prison system. The ongoing security breaches that were made so public earlier this year, the camera footage of a fight inside a jail cell, Facebook posts from inside the prison, contraband freely entering the jail and even tax fraud continuing to occur are not new stories and have become just the norm as part of the AMC.
Drugs are a problem in jails. This is a fact. I am informed that not only are illicit drugs an issue inside the ACT’s prison but prescription medications are becoming more and more prevalent and an issue of abuse. This is fuelled by issues that plague the broader community such as the growing use of methamphetamine, more commonly referred to as ice. Just yesterday in this place, we passed legislation to tighten some of the rules around drug testing within the AMC. The anonymity of drug tests has been removed, and that is a step in the right direction. As I said yesterday, I encourage this, and I hope that that step is the first of many more to come. But the big question remains. Currently, I am informed that we are only conducting 10 random drug tests in the jail per month. That is 10 tests per month in a population that is nearing 400 people. That is a drop in the ocean when compared to the prevalence of drugs and substance abuse that plague those that are serving time in the ACT’s prison system.
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