Page 361 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 2018
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into the serious assault of Steven Freeman in 2015. These discussions focused on what measures are necessary to improve the identification of detainees that commit assaults in the AMC. Senior representatives from ACT Policing, ACT Corrective Services and the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions have met with the steering committee on a number of occasions.
As a result of these discussions, the steering committee has been able to better clarify the roles and responsibilities of each agency in investigating assault matters and how the investigative and prosecution processes work. They have subsequently reported that the consensus of the committee is that the work done since the review to implement recommendations 2 and 3 does substantially improve the situation moving forward and the work achieved in these improvements is in the spirit of what Mr Moss intended in his review. In December 2017 the committee agreed that both recommendations 2 and 3 have been satisfied.
Detainees at the AMC often have significant and complex health needs and require additional care. The health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees with complex health issues are a particular area of focus. There is an expectation from government that justice health services and ACT Corrective Services share information, clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and work together to improve detainees’ safety and wellbeing.
In response to recommendation 4, a formal arrangement was signed by the directors-general of Justice and Community Safety and ACT Health on 14 August 2017. This arrangement sets a clear statement of intent for the provision of health services for detainees. It outlines the community and government expectation that staff will work together and share information to ensure that detainees have access to regular health checks and timely physical and mental health treatment when necessary.
The arrangement will be supported by a number of schedules. The first schedule developed addresses information sharing to enhance service delivery arrangements for detainees by the improved transfer of relevant and timely information between agencies. Further schedules and protocols will be jointly developed to support the arrangement and improve service delivery outcomes. I am pleased to see strong work towards this by both agencies. On 24 January 2018 the steering committee found that the development of the arrangement and supporting schedules satisfied this recommendation.
The Moss review also recognised the significant proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees at the AMC and concluded there is a need to better integrate Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service to provide a holistic approach to health care at the AMC in a culturally safe way. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody also made several recommendations for the inclusion of appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations in the design and delivery of services and programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders.
The ACT government recognises the importance of giving a central role to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the delivery of services in the criminal justice and health systems. This is vital to a holistic model of care for Aboriginal and Torres
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