The ACT government has rejected calls for a full-scale review of security and management practices at the territory's prison as contraband and drugs continue to pass through its walls.
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Shadow corrections minister Andrew Wall called for the review on Wednesday and expressed concerns that rising use of drugs, mobile phones and social media had become "the norm" among inmates at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Mr Wall said new accommodation at the jail, due to be completed next year, would ease problems caused by a lack of segregation options and intense overcrowding pressures which had pushed the jail to "crisis point" in recent months.
But he said ongoing security, drug and management problems, which included inadequate rehabilitation options and a lack of separation for sentenced prisoners and remandees, needed to be addressed before they got worse.
Mr Wall said a review was necessary after media reports of tax fraud and social media use inside the prison, along with security footage of fights and the smuggling of mobile phones.
Security breaches and illicit drug use were common occurrences and contraband was freely entering the main Symonston jail, he said.
"I am informed that not only are illicit drugs an issue inside the ACT's prison but also prescription medications are becoming more and more prevalent and an issue of abuse.
"This is of course fuelled by issues that plague the broader community such as the growing use of methylamphetamine, or ice."
Mr Wall was critical of drug testing methods in the jail and said the current rate of 10 random drug tests among nearly 400 prisoners per month was a "drop in the ocean" compared to the prevalence of illicit substance use among detainees.
More than 40 prisoners were caught using methamphetamine or amphetamine inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre during 2014-15, according to government statistics.
Almost all of those who tested positive, 38 used the drugs as their primary or secondary substance with another four using it as their fourth or fifth.
Mr Wall said the ACT government's approach to drugs and contraband wasn't working and effective rehabilitation couldn't happen where drugs and contraband were rife.
But Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury said he would not support another review of the jail and urged Mr Wall to adopt a more intelligent and sophisticated approach to the problem.
He said while instances of illicit drug use and contraband at the ACT's jail were concerning, they were problems in every prison across the country and world.
"Even at the Goulburn Supermax they face the same challenges that we do.
"Even in the most secure environment in our nation, there are drugs, and phone, and contraband issues."
He said security measures such as metal detectors, x-ray baggage scanners, vehicle searches, CCTV cameras, sniffer dogs and staff were in place to detect and intercept contraband.
But the reality was that many detainees were in jail because they had long histories of criminal behaviour and drug use, Mr Rattenbury said.
"Is it any surprise that a small cohort may spend their times inside trying every possible avenue to smuggle illicit drugs, the mobile phones they use to organise their illegal activities, and other contraband, inside the wire?"
He said a newly-completed 30-bed special care unit designed to better separate detainees was the latest measure to help relieve intense overcrowding pressures at the jail.
The unit was the first stage of a $54 million expansion project that would boost accommodation at the jail by 110 beds with additional surge capacity.
It comes as a temporary Symonston overflow facility renovated to take up to 30 prisoners from the main jail has consistently been close to full in recent months.
The number of detainees in the ACT has hovered above 370 in recent weeks.
