Page 3398 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015
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Mr Wall understandably asks, "How is it all getting in?" The most direct answer I can give him is that AMC houses detainees who are there because of their criminal behaviour. Some of them have a long history of offending and much of this offending relates, in some way, to drug use. Is it any surprise that a small cohort may spend their time inside trying every possible avenue to smuggle illicit drugs, the mobile phones they use to organise their illegal activities and other contraband inside the wire?
The Canberra Liberals want another review of the AMC which is, in many ways, the easy option for them to call for. In the past five years alone we have had the knowledge consulting review, parts 1 and 2, the Burnet review of alcohol and other drugs policies and services within the AMC, an Auditor-General's report, which I will come back to in a moment, a Human Rights Commission audit and a Health Services Commissioner review.
I have no fear of reviews and I am on the record as supporting these processes, and I think my response to the Auditor-General’s report earlier this year is a good example of that. I welcomed the Auditor-General’s report. I thought that it made a number of recommendations which were very helpful in improving the delivery of rehabilitation programs in the AMC. I think if we are going to talk about that Auditor-General’s review in any sort of way it is fair to acknowledge that the Auditor-General also noted the improvements in management practices that contribute to improved rehabilitation services in the AMC. So you can sit here and cherry pick the negative quotes but if you are going to have a serious discussion you also need to acknowledge the Auditor-General’s finding that there have been improvements in the management practices that contribute to improved rehabilitation services in the AMC.
I think that goes to my view on this. I do not think we should have another review. I want to focus on providing the stability and consistency of approach that is required to respond to the pressures facing Corrective Services and I am confident that our approach of continuous improvement, as implemented by the excellent management team we have in the ACT, is the right one. Reviews are easy. They are an easy way to get a headline, get a media release out—just get yourself on radio saying we need a review.
I am actually focused on implementing the findings that have already been made in some of those earlier reviews I have spoken about, because they have identified areas for improvement and for taking on board and implementing the ideas for improvement that our staff and management have that are based on their experience in other jurisdictions, and on their conversations with colleagues in other jurisdictions. Our staff are not sitting still out there. They are working hard to make the AMC the best possible correctional facility it can be.
There are a couple of possible choices. We can have another review and the staff will all be diverted to spending more time dealing with another review that will probably make some similar findings or they can actually focus on the job at hand and get on with making the improvements that they are making. Let me give a few examples of some of the improvements that have been made in recent times. There has recently been an internal audit of the policies and procedures of ACT Corrective Services.
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