2022-23 Annual Report
13 October 2023
This year has seen a change in leadership at the Office of the Inspector of Correctional Services. On 14 March 2023 I took over the role of Inspector from inaugural Inspector, Neil McAllister, who completed his five-year appointment on 13 March 2023.
Over his five-year term Neil oversaw the tabling of 19 reviews including two Healthy Prison Reviews of AMC and one Healthy Centre
Review of Bimberi, two thematic reviews of ACT Corrective Services and 14 critical incident reviews. This has been completed with a staffing level of less than 3 FTE. Critical Incident reviews included complex events including a riot, fires causing significant damage, and a death in custody. I recognise and thank Neil for his significant contribution to the establishment and leadership of a strongly independent statutory body that promotes transparency in adult corrections and youth detention. Having worked as Deputy Inspector with Neil since OICS was established I look forward to continuing OICS’ work.
The first half of the reporting year included finalising and tabling the second Healthy Prison Review 2022 of the Alexander Maconochie Centre. The review made 29 recommendations and the ACT Government response was tabled at the end of the reporting period. It will be a priority in the coming year to track the implementation of accepted recommendations.
In February 2023 OICS commenced planning for the first thematic review of Bimberi since OICS’ role expanded to include Bimberi in 2019. The theme of the review is the segregation and isolation of children and young people at Bimberi. The onsite visit took place from 1–6 June 2023 and the report is expected to be tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly in November 2023.
This review also serves as OICS pilot National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) visit under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). The purpose of conducting this visit as a pilot was to develop and test aspects of NPM visit methodology and determine an estimate of the cost involved in conducting an NPM-style thematic visit.
The year ahead will commence with a mandated review of the Inspector of Correctional Services Act 2017 (ACT), required under the Act to be conducted after 5 years operation. This will be a chance to reflect on what aspects are working well and areas for improvement to our legislative framework.
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