How we work

Monitoring standards | Review methodology | Critical Incidents | Relationship with other oversight entities

Monitoring standards

Reviews carried out by the Inspector of Correctional Services are conducted against the Inspector’s published inspection standards, which set out the expectations for treatment and care, and indicators that help assess whether expectations are being met. These Standards set out the criteria for inspection:

These Standards are based on the elements of a healthy prison, first articulated by the World Health Organisation: detainees are held safely, treated with respect and dignity as human beings, are able to engage in purposeful activity and are prepared for resettlement. They draw on a range of international, national, and local sources.

The Standards are tailored for the ACT's unique conditions: a small jurisdiction, operating under human rights legislation, and at the time of writing, with one adult correctional facility and one youth justice that detains both remand and sentenced people, women and men. The Standards are informed by relevant ACT law and policy. For the adult Standards this includes the Corrections Management Act 2007 (CM Act) as well as policies and procedures notified under this Act. For the youth Standards this includes the Children and Young People Act 2008 and the relevant policies and procedures notified under the Act.

Review methodology

During a review, a number of sources of evidence are used to assess the correctional centre against the Standards. These sources of evidence include: individual interviews carried out with staff, detainees, visitors and other stakeholders; survey results; group discussions with detainees; documentation; submissions received from interested entities, groups and individuals; and observation by inspectors.

Reports are published in the ACT Legislative Assembly within 6 months of completion of the review. Prior to publication of the report, the relevant Minister and Director-General are consulted with and invited to correct any factual inaccuracies within the report.

The Inspector of Correctional Services methodology for conducting reviews is based on international best practice standards. These standards are articulated in documents such as the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)’s Monitoring Places of detention: a practical guide (2004) and are reflected in practices developed and documented by international human rights monitoring bodies, including the UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture and the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

The Inspector of Correctional Services' Review Framework sets out this methodology and provides information on the context in which reviews are undertaken.

The Inspector of Correctional Service Review Schedule sets out the review cycle for whole of centre reviews of the Alexander Maconochie Centre and Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, and thematic reviews of a correctional service.

Information about making a submission to a review can be found in our Making a submission to an OICS review factsheet.

Critical Incidents

The Inspector of Correctional Services can review critical incidents at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) and Bimberi Youth Justice Centre. Critical incident is defined in the Inspector of Correctional Services Act 2017 (ACT) to include:

  • the death of a person;
  • a person’s life being endangered;
  • an escape from custody;
  • a person being taken hostage;
  • a riot that results in significant disruption to a centre or service;
  • a fire that results in significant property damage;
  • an assault or use of force that results in a person being admitted to a hospital;
  • any other incident identified as a critical incident by a relevant Minister or relevant director-general.

The Inspector has a Memorandum of Understanding with ACT Corrective Services and a Memorandum of Understanding with Bimberi Youth Justice Centre concerning their respective roles and responsibilities with regard to the review of critical incidents.

The Inspector has discretion whether to review a critical incident. OICS has an internal operating procedure that sets out the process and criteria the Inspector will use when exercising this discretion.

Relationship with other oversight entities

The role of the Inspector of Correctional Services is to provide comprehensive oversight of adult and young detainees from a whole of system perspective. The Inspector does not handle individual complaints. The Inspector, ACT Ombudsman and ACT Human Rights Commission have a relationship protocol in place that outlines how the agencies will work together to ensure effective oversight of the AMC. These entities also have a policy in place on how to manage complaints from detainees sent to all entities at the same time.

Entities with oversight of the treatment and care of detainees in the ACT include:

ACT Ombudsman

The ACT Ombudsman's role is to resolve complaints and monitor the actions of government agencies, including ACT Corrective Services.

Official visitors

The role of the Corrections Official Visitors are to provide a monitoring and complaints system for persons detained in a correctional centre. In the ACT, there are currently four Corrections Official Visitors: two general Official Visitors and two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Official Visitors. There are also two Official Visitors for Children and Young People.

ACT Human Rights Commission

The ACT Human Rights Commission handles complaints in relation to discrimination and health services, and provides services including services for people with a disability, health services, services for children and young people, and services for older persons.