Page 4562 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 26 November 2019
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MR RATTENBURY: I do not have that data immediately to hand, but I can say that we make extensive efforts to ensure the security of staff, detainees and visitors in the jail. We have a range of people, including justice health staff, lawyers and the like, coming through the jail, and there is a strong focus on security. We have a separation regime that is designed to keep apart people who should not be together. Our staff receive a range of training to help them manage these situations. Unfortunately there is violence in the jail at times, but there are efforts in place to minimise that as much as possible.
MR WALL: Minister, why have you failed in your leadership at the prison to provide a safe working environment for corrections officers?
MR RATTENBURY: As I said in my previous answer, the leadership at the jail works with staff to provide as safe an environment as possible through a range of techniques, including both physical protection and also intelligence-led work to identify detainees who might be a particular risk of assaulting our staff.
MR HANSON: Minister, why is workforce safety at the AMC among the worst in the country?
MR RATTENBURY: As I said, I do not have those figures to hand and I would like to go and check those. Across the country this is an issue for all corrections systems. It is a challenge for all of us. The AMC is unique in the Australian corrections context in being, I think, the only jail in the country that has the full set of classifications of prisoners, including females, so there are some particular challenges at the AMC.
Schools—infrastructure
MR GUPTA: My question is to the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development. Minister, what investments has the government made to upgrade the infrastructure at Canberra public schools?
MS BERRY: I thank Mr Deepak-Raj Gupta for his question. The government is committed to ensuring that every public school has the infrastructure to support high-quality education. That is why there has been investment of more than $115 million to upgrade public schools right across the territory. Right across the city the government has upgraded classrooms, toilets, libraries, canteens and bike shelters, as well as gardens, landscaping and playground areas in schools to make sure that these spaces are positive and accommodating.
For example, in Tuggeranong, at Calwell High School the government has upgraded the science room and toilets, installed a new shade structure, added bike racks, upgraded lighting to energy efficient LED technology, and made heating and cooling improvements. All up the government has spent around $500,000 on upgrades at this school.
The government’s investment in public school infrastructure goes beyond just the basic things that allow learning and teaching to take place, to things like providing a
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