Page 1532 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2016
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Another issue that speaks once again to the inconsistencies of the management of the jail is that of the change to visiting hours. I have had a number of representations to my office regarding the changes to the way visits are undertaken at the jail. The message from each one of these is: why? Why? Why there is a need to change the practices there is still unknown. Why is there a need for change that does not in any way change efficiencies and administration of the jail but only serves to create new problems?
Recently the report on government services said the following:
A relatively high or increasing average time out-of-cells per day indicates better performance. The periods during which prisoners are not confined to their cells or units provides them with the opportunity to participate in a range of activities that may include work, education, wellbeing, recreation and treatment programs, the opportunity to receive visits, and interacting with other prisoners and staff.
The recent change to visiting hours has actually reduced the opportunity for detainees to receive time out of their cells, not increased it. Again, this is the evidence provided by those who know, those who are actually making the visits.
I have had numerous calls to my office and representations in the weeks leading up to this change, particularly this week since the changes came into effect over the weekend, with the families and friends of people who are serving a sentence at the AMC concerned by the significant reduction in opportunities to go and visit the ones that they care about. One such example was a gentleman who was seeking to visit his friend. Previously his friend, who is serving a prolonged sentence at the AMC, had up to nine hours available for visitors per week. That changed this week from nine hours down to two—two hours. That is going to further increase social isolation and further exacerbate the disconnect that prisoners in the AMC feel from the community on the outside. That will set them up ultimately to fail when they are released and make it a much harder opportunity to rehabilitate with a higher likelihood of seeing recidivist behaviour and recidivist statistics continuing to trend in the wrong direction in this jurisdiction.
Time after time we have seen media reports of security breaches at the AMC. Whilst these instances always make for good media stories and always manage to achieve some level of interest amongst the broader community, the instances themselves paint a picture of inconsistency and worry. The latest incidents involved a detainee receiving medical treatment having the opportunity to escape custody. Again, in isolation or even in comparison to other jurisdictions, this is not overly alarming as a one-off, regardless of how serious it is. It remains a significant issue. But in view of the bigger picture of how this corrections system is being run, this is just one example in a broad picture of consistent failings and further highlights the Canberra Liberals’ calls for a review into security practices and procedures, relating not just to security but also to the administration and the policies that are implemented in the jail.
The current corrections minister has flat out dismissed the idea of a review of any kind at the AMC. In fact, he has gone so far as to say, “Why would we bother to do a review when we already know what the result would be?” The question then needs to
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