Page 2211 - Week 06 - Thursday, 6 June 2019
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In November 2018 ACT Corrective Services repurposed a dedicated unit within the AMC for the purpose of supporting detainees in their first seven to 14 days. The regime of the unit is still under development. It will have a constructive regime in place which supports detainees to adjust to their new environment. It will also provide detainees with information regarding their period of incarceration and the services and supports that can be accessed while at the AMC. The longer intent will be to provide a full induction program, including the commencement of sentence management processes and detainee peer support.
The corrections management induction policy 2019 will be notified by 30 June. The policy sets out the requirements for a structured induction process for detainees. It stipulates that the general manager of custodial operations will ensure that the induction process meets or exceeds the requirements of the corrections management regime planning policy 2018 for time out of cell hours, which is 10 hours, and consideration of risk and safety. The enhancements to the induction unit will improve outcomes for this vulnerable cohort and reduce the risk of suicide and self-harm for new detainees.
The AMC is a complex prison, as it hosts and manages a wide number of different cohorts of detainees. The management of cohorts can impact on the out of cell hours more than in other jurisdictions. The reasons for lock-ins are varied. They can be due to events such as incident management, detainee health escorts, or training commitments. At present, rostering arrangements at the AMC are under review to ensure that staff resourcing is optimised to meet operational needs.
Time out of cells is defined in the regime planning policy as the number of hours per day that detainees are not confined to cells or units. This policy confirms the requirements of the regime for the AMC, including access to exercise. This is now the expected standard for the AMC. Corrective Services continues to examine operations of the AMC, including a number of detainee cohorts and locations. As this work is completed, a placement policy will be developed to inform the management of cohorts.
The current telephone system technology at the AMC is 10 years old, and the number of phones has not increased to meet the detainee population. Replacement of the telephone system is being funded in the 2019-20 budget so that it can allow for the implementation of findings 16 and 17 by increasing the number of phones and the amount of privacy afforded to detainees when making phone calls.
Corrective Services appreciates the inspector’s acknowledgement of the AMC’s progressive initiative in providing detainees with email and limited internet. Both email and telephone accounts are routinely established within the first week of admission for all detainees. For detainees to add people to their email or telephone account list, verbal permission must be confirmed from the nominated individuals.
In exceptional circumstances delays may occur as ACT Corrective Services officers attempt to make telephone contact with the nominated person to obtain permission. At times the relevant person does not answer or respond in a timely manner. This is a
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