Page 3887 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 25 September 2019
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and long term about how to make sure that we have the best possible outcomes for women involved in the justice system in the ACT on a daily basis.
I do not believe we have failed to provide appropriate accommodation facilities for women detained at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. We responded as best we could to a dramatic increase in female detainees and provided the best accommodation available. That is why I will be moving the amendment to Mrs Jones’s motion that I have circulated in my name.
The move of female detainees in November 2017 was considered the only feasible option at the time, given the number of women in detention, the limitations on the available accommodation within the AMC, the suitability of other contingencies considered at that time and the need to best uphold the human rights of female detainees. The move was intended as a medium-term but temporary solution in order to explore feasible options available to the government.
Mrs Jones highlighted in her remarks that, prior to that, given the dramatic escalation in numbers, females were accommodated in a range of places in the AMC. Some were in the cottages but some were in the management unit and in the health unit. That was entirely unsatisfactory, and that that is why the move was made to the special care centre, which is where the females are now housed.
To give members some sense of the numbers, in 2013 the AMC held an average of 12 female detainees. We had accommodation for 29 and we had 12 detainees. In 2016 the number increased to 23 and then by 2017, around the time of the move, there were 43 detainees. That is nearly a 100 per cent increase in the space of 12 months. These things are unpredictable and impossible to plan for, but it is incumbent on us to make sure we come up with the best possible solution with the resources available. That is why the special care centre was chosen as a place for the females, where they can all be in one place together and we can focus on providing services appropriate to our female detainees in one place.
As of yesterday, there are currently 33 women accommodated in the AMC, with 20 on remand and 13 sentenced. I do not expect those numbers to drop dramatically in the short term, so we continue to have numbers above the beds available in the cottage part of the gaol. On 28 November 2017 the women were moved from the women’s cottage section and the other special purpose beds being used to handle the overflow to the accommodation known as the special care centre. That increased the bed capacity for women from 29 to 57.
ACT Corrective Services took measures to maintain the standards of separation of men and women and to minimise visibility. Screens and window frosting were installed to restrict the potential for inappropriate lines of sight between men and women. These enhancements did not affect the women’s access to adequate sunlight or air. When women are required to be escorted from the special care centre, escorting officers communicate with the movement control officer prior to that occurring to ensure that no male detainees are on the walkways at the time. Once walkways are cleared, the officers will escort the women to their destination. The walkways remain clear of other cohorts for the duration of the escort.
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