Page 1382 - Week 04 - Thursday, 12 April 2018
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MRS KIKKERT: Minister, are operational lockdowns as a result of insufficient staffing still occurring in 2018?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I do not have the tabling statement that I made or my ministerial statement when I tabled the headline indicators report. At the time I think I indicated a number of things. The decision to undertake an operational lockdown is not taken lightly. It can only be authorised by a member of the senior management team. Lockdowns are structured in a way that still enables the maximum period of time outside cabins for young detainees.
Opposition members interjecting—
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: For the information of the Assembly I still have a minute and a half to go. Lockdowns may be for a period of time of just two hours, to enable staff meal breaks, or in the event that they are for a longer period of time they are rolling, which means young people alternate between spending one hour in their cabins and then one hour out of their cabins. During the time they are in their cabins, young people have access to TV, reading materials and schoolwork whilst the lockdowns are occurring.
As I have said, the increase in young people in the centre during 2017, as well as staff leave and the loss of casual staff from the depleted pool, have increased the need for operational lockdowns. Ongoing and current recruitment is addressing these issues. Eleven new staff commenced induction training on 13 March 2018. A further recruitment round is currently underway, with induction training to commence on 7 May. I am assured that this will result in sufficient additional staff being appointed to minimise the need for future lockdowns.
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, will you correct the record to clarify that staffing levels at Bimberi in 2007 were, in fact, not adequate or appropriate?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I am pretty sure Mr Milligan means 2017, and I refer him to my response to the first question.
Alexander Maconochie Centre—accredited training
MS CODY: My question is to the Minister for Corrections. Minister, since the opening of the bakery at the AMC, how has the uptake of accredited training been going?
MR RATTENBURY: Overall, I can say that the actual bakery has been going extremely well. In terms of actual accreditation, one of the important parts is that people who participate in these industry programs come out of them with formal qualifications. This is about enhancing the rehabilitation process and making sure that the skills that are picked up inside the bakery can potentially be used outside, either directly in that industry or for the detainees to be able to demonstrate their ability to acquire skills and potentially apply that learning in another area.
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