But only two of the seizures were referred to ACT Policing for investigation, with the jail preferring internal discipline to prosecution.

The figures, which do not include March, show the majority of the confiscations (32) happened in the past eight months.

The use of communication devices by prisoners at the Alexander Maconochie Centre has led to a number of recent security breaches, including revelations last month that a sentenced prisoner had updated social media on life inside Canberra jail.

Other high profile breaches included footage of a prison fight uploaded online, and allegations a drug ring had been run by inmates using smuggled phones.

A Justice and Community Safety Directorate spokesman admitted there had been an increase in mobile phones found in the AMC since the mid-2014.

But JACS said the spike in seizures had been the result of improved search methods.

Opposition corrections spokesman Andrew Wall has previously called for a review of the jail's security, arguing it risked a "cultural legacy" if continued breaches were not stamped out.

Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury responded, at the time, that the government did not need a review to identify that contraband was a problem in prisons.

Mr Rattenbury has also resisted the temptation to rush mobile phone jammers into Canberra jail, instead preferring to await the outcome of a trial at Lithgow jail.

JACS said ACT Corrective Services would consider possible implications for the AMC once that trial had been fully evaluated.

Mr Wall said the government should adopt a two-pronged approach to ridding the AMC of smuggled phones.

He said mobile phone jammers – which would render the phones useless – should only be a secondary method.

Mr Wall said the primary focus should be to identify failures in security that allowed contraband into the jail.

"There's limited ways contraband can enter, so we need to identify how it is getting in and what can be done to stop that," he said.

"The government needs to look at the weaknesses in the existing system to identify where the flaws are and what can be done to address them

"[They should] look at what is best practice elsewhere, both in Australia and jurisdictions overseas, to work out what practices can be adopted to stop the contraband coming in and then render it useless if it does enter.

"If you don't fix the problem, it will continue to be a problem."

But JACS said ACT Corrective Services had recently installed additional internal fencing at the AMC to help interrupt contraband – including mobile phones – being thrown into the jail grounds for collection by inmates.

JACS said detainees found with contraband items were typically subject to internal disciplinary processes.

"Generally only those that are part of broader investigations or are considered of interest to ACT Policing are referred to the police.

"Detainees who are found with contraband items are typically subject to internal disciplinary processes.

"Where a detainee is found guilty under such processes, they may be subject to loss of privileges, the imposition of non-contact visits and changes to security classification."

JACS said ACT Corrective Services worked closely with police in support of contraband interdiction measures including providing assistance with the execution of search warrants at the AMC, and with the ongoing exchange of information and intelligence.