Page 3823 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 27 August 2008
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I would also like to take the opportunity to address a number of the comments made in the article that appeared in the Canberra Times earlier this week titled “ACT ban on searches ‘real risk to safety’”. The article asserted that the government had slapped a ban on routine strip searching of detainees on their way back to the Belconnen Remand Centre, which is now resulting in an increased risk to the safety and security of detainees and Corrective Services officers. It is true that a decision was made by ACT Corrective Services to limit strip searches to situations where there is a belief that a particular detainee has concealed an item. This decision follows concerns raised by the ACT Ombudsman’s office about routine strip-searching practices. However, this decision has not, on the advice I have received, led to any increased risk to detainees or corrections officers.
I want to reassure the Assembly that the advice I have is that detainees at the Belconnen Remand Centre are currently strip-searched where there is suspicion on reasonable grounds that they have concealed contraband on them, or an item which could be used to cause harm or intimidate other detainees or corrections officers. The government’s concern is not solely about the issue of illicit drugs, an issue that Dr Foskey has focused on to some degree. Our concern is equally about items that could be used as weapons or other items that could cause harm to other detainees or officers of a corrections facility.
It is also important to note that the power that is being proposed in this bill is the power that was previously available to Corrective Services officers prior to the introduction of the Corrections Management Act earlier this year. It is interesting to note that there has been little or no adverse commentary from those who are now critical of this bill on the custom and practice that has been in place and authorised under the law for close to the two decades since self-government—that is, that strip searches were conducted routinely as a way of preventing contraband from entering a corrections facility such as the Belconnen Remand Centre. I find it a little bit hypocritical for those who are now critical of this bill to have been silent for the past two decades when this power was exercised routinely and was a standard part of the law here in the ACT.
I also find it disappointing that the government’s efforts to change and move beyond a situation where strip searches are routine are criticised in this place. We are endeavouring to do what no other jurisdiction in the country has tried to do—that is, to move away from the routine use of strip searches. The government is well aware of the issues such as those raised by Dr Foskey in the debate tonight. We are aware of the humiliating nature of a strip search; we are aware of the intrusiveness; we are aware of the psychological impact that it can have on a detainee who is regularly subjected to such a search. That is why we are seeking to put in place an alternative; that is why we are seeking to establish on a permanent basis the use of an X-ray body scanner as an alternative to strip searching in almost all circumstances. We treat the issue seriously, and we are moving to try and address it.
I am disappointed that the decision has not yet been received from the ACT Radiation Council on this matter, but I understand their caution and I understand their need to be satisfied on all the issues before they make a decision on the application. It is certainly not the case, as asserted by Mr Seselja, that the government has left the application
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