ACT Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury said a surge in inmates last year had seen a rise in contraband such as electronics, drugs and mobile phones at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

Prisoner numbers surged in 2013 and the crowding continues, with inmate numbers fluctuating between 335 and 343.

The pressure has forced the government to consider moves such as a home detention program, in which inmates could be fitted with electronic tracking bracelets.

Mr Rattenbury said on Tuesday that the ACT had also approached prison authorities in NSW but it was unlikely prisoners would be transferred interstate.

''There is limited scope for transfer to NSW,'' he said. ''They haven't said no. But they've got population pressures as well.''

The ABC reported this week that a crackdown on contraband in the jail had led to the seizure of hundreds of banned items between July and September. The number of electronic items seized, such as USB sticks, grew from two to 16 across that quarter, while discoveries of drug paraphernalia more than doubled. In July, a prisoner also tried to scale a perimeter fence to reach a football containing banned items.

''Two things have created the increase in contraband,'' Mr Rattenbury said. ''With more detainees comes more people trying to smuggle things in.''

As well, there were improved detection techniques at the jail.

''The AMC has increased security at the jail through increased physical searches and greater use of intelligence infrastructure,'' the minister said. ''There's better screening of visitors coming into the AMC.''

Prison staff have had to make operational changes to cope with overcrowding.

While the problem eased briefly late in the year, Mr Rattenbury said numbers had grown again in the past few weeks to about 340 inmates.