Healthy Prison Review of the Alexander Maconochie Centre 2022

4 July 2023

This is the second Healthy Prison Review (HPR22) of the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC), which follows from the inaugural review in 2019 and enables tracking of progress over time.

The Review finds there has been pockets of progress and areas of promise for systemic improvements, but overall, a decline in conditions for detainees since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted operations including causing significant staffing pressure, and for detainees reduced time out of cell and reduced access to programs and visits. However, the big issues of detainee boredom, lack of any education, and a perceived decline in staff/ detainee relations are chronic and cannot be attributed to the pandemic alone.

The most glaring issue to come out of this review is the widespread boredom experienced by detainees, stemming from lack of any education, few meaningful employment opportunities, and limited opportunities for rehabilitation and preparation for release. Rehabilitation is maximized when detainees are spending their days completing programs, engaging in education and training, working and staying active. The limited opportunities for rehabilitation over the past three years at the AMC is letting down detainees and the ACT community alike.

Drawing on extensive consultations with detainees, staff and working with experts with lived experience, the report makes 29 recommendations to the ACT Government.

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