That audit, ACT Human Rights Commission president Dr Helen Watchirs has urged, should identify the gaps in oversight of all detention facilities and the practical changes needed, as a "first step" towards meeting the Optional Protocols under the Convention.

It should also lead to a single ACT-wide body to protect the human rights of detainees in all facilities, ranging from prisons to mental health units, disability, aged and child protection facilities.

There are ongoing community concerns about the health and protection of inmates at the Alexander Maconochie Centre and Bimberi youth detention centre, aged care facilities and mental health units across Canberra.

The federal government will ratify the protocols by year's end and state and territory governments must also ensure their detention facilities will meet the new standards as soon as possible after ratification.

The ACT government is also preparing to create an Inspector of Prisons, in response to a recommendation of the Moss Review to create such a role in the ACT Ombudsman's office, in the wake of an indigenous death in custody last year.

But six months after pledging to create the inspectorate, the government has revealed no details publicly about its scope or mechanisms of oversight, potential powers or its independence of government.

Dr Watchirs said the inspectorate should form part of a wider body to oversee all "places of detention", have greater powers and be fully independent of government.

She said the doubling of female inmates at AMC since the 2014 audit of the conditions of detention for women was just one of many issues highlighting the need for greater protections, oversight and powers for human rights protection in the territory.

The government is now considering re-opening the Symonston detention centre to house the overflowing numbers of female prisoners in the ACT.

In its submission to its federal counterpart, the commission has also detailed the widespread gaps in oversight of "places of detention" in Canberra, a lack of resources given to existing oversight bodies and a lack of powers to obtain information from government agencies during investigations.

"A first step towards achieving (Convention) compliance should be to map out all places and categories of detention in the ACT against existing oversight jurisdiction and functions to identify gaps in the framework," the submission reads.

Dr Watchirs said specific areas lacking in independent oversight included aged care facilities funded by the Commonwealth and police cells and watchhouses, and transport between them, due to the contracting arrangements for ACT Policing.

A spokeswoman for the Justice and Community Services directorate said the new inspectorate would have "extensive and substantive powers", but would not answer questions on those powers, the inspectorate's investigative scope or if it would be an independent statutory office.

"The government is currently considering the role, function, and scope of the Inspectorate of Custodial Services as part of wide-ranging and ongoing consultation with stakeholders," she said.

She said the Health Services Commissioner, Karen Toohey, was investigating methadone prescribing in the prison, as the Moss Report recommended, but the commission's remit did not extend to broader human rights issues.

The commission also called for public consultation about detention oversight in the ACT to prepare for ratification, particularly with the indigenous community, given the high, disproportionate rate of Aboriginal imprisonment in Canberra.

The JACS spokeswoman said the details of ratifying the Convention were still being negotiated nationally, and implementation in the ACT would "involve a gradual transition".

"The government is currently considering the steps it should take to prepare for the ACT's future obligations under the [Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture]," she said.