An Indigenous community leader with a long and distinguished career in the public sector says he is not afraid to "shake up" reticent officials to ensure there is change in Canberra's jail, days after another inmate's death there.
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Former chief executive of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Russell Taylor will oversee the ACT government's rollout of the recommendations of the Moss Report, the review of the death of Indigenous Alexander Maconochie Centre inmate Steven Freeman.
Mr Taylor will independently chair an inter-directorate steering committee of ACT government officials and community representatives and provide impartial advice to justice minister Shane Rattenbury about the government's implementations of the Moss Report.
Mr Taylor said he believes he is as accountable to the community and to Mr Freeman's family as he is to the minister.
"It's an absolutely tragedy and the Freeman family [have] had to put up with quite a bit of trial and tribulation here, they're entitled to expect some timely responses now. If I have to shake them up a bit I am quite prepared to do that," Mr Taylor said.
"I owe that to the community. The community has expectations and one of those expectations is that the recommendations are addressed as soon as practicable.
"If that means I have to upset some people or suggest that actions need to be sped up or whatever it needs, I will say so. If I need to bring in the authority of the minster to do something about that I will say so. If I encounter some kind of roadblocks I will demand responses and I will demand action."
Mr Freeman died inside the prison in May 2016, with an autopsy finding a toxic amount of methadone in his system. A coronial inquest into his death noted there was no record he was ever using heroin.
Former integrity commissioner Philip Moss found that the treatment of Mr Freeman was substandard and marred by a series of failings involving corrections, police, and health authorities.
He made nine recommendations, eight of which were wholly accepted by the ACT government. His seventh recommendation called for an investigation into the jail's methadone program.
Mr Taylor's appointment came less than 10 days after the death of another inmate in Canberra's jail, Mark O'Connor. Mr Rattenbury and the Justice and Community Safety Directorate have not been forthcoming with details about his death.
Mr O'Connor's death is the sixth at the prison since it opened in 2009.