Page 1459 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 April 2019

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1. Section 183 of the Corrections Management Act 2007 (the Act) outlines the disciplinary actions that may be imposed for a disciplinary breach. In order of severity, one or more of the following disciplinary actions may be imposed against a detainee:

A warning;

A reprimand;

An administrative penalty, or a combination of administrative penalties (including loss of privileges); or

A direction for a detainee to make reparation for loss to an injured person.

Under section 184 of the Act, an administrative penalty is a financial penalty not exceeding $500, withdrawal of privileges for no longer than 180 days, a requirement to perform extra work, or separate confinement for a period of 3, 7, or 28 days. For the purposes of reparation, section 185 of the Act provides that a direction may be made for a detainee to pay an amount not exceeding $100 to an injured person.

Loss of privileges may include:

Removal of paid employment;

Removal of participation in programs (not including those addressing criminogenic needs as part of a case plan unless approved by the General Manager);

No contact visits;

No calls and e-mail contact;

Removal of access to recreation equipment and structured recreational activities;

Removal of access to hobby and leisure activities;

No use of electronic devices including television and music players;

Removal of buy-ups;

No private cash deposits to a detainee account to supplement institutional earnings; and/or

As a general principle privileges relating to employment or visits should only be suspended for discipline breaches directly relevant to those areas or for security or safety reasons.

When use is made of disciplinary actions, ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS) must ensure that any disciplinary action against a detainee is proportionate to the breach, consistent with other disciplinary actions imposed for similar breaches, and is the minimum possible action required to correct behaviour.

2. A corrections officer of any rank who becomes aware of a disciplinary breach, may deal with less serious or isolated incidents by warning or reprimanding a detainee. A corrections officer may also elect to case note the incident or report an alleged breach of discipline to the Area Supervisor with a view to it being dealt with under sections 184 and 185 of the Act.

For more serious or repeated misbehaviour, a corrections officer will submit an alleged breach of discipline report to the Area Supervisor. The Area Supervisor will evaluate the report and refer the matter to an Area Manager for investigation and determination. If the breach of discipline is proven, the Area Manager will impose a sanction.


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