Mr Stanhope named the prison after 19th-century reformer Alexander Maconochie, an iconoclast from our colonial past who deserves greater recognition. At a time convicts were treated with sickening brutality and regularly died as a result, Lieutenant Maconochie offered them incentives to work, taught them to read and inspired them to live good lives. By effectively eliminating recidivism among Britain's "worst" criminals, he changed world thinking on incarceration.

In its eight years, Canberra's prison, which bears Lieutenant Maconochie's name, has fallen far short of the lofty goals Mr Stanhope set for it. The death of Aboriginal detainee Steven Freeman last year, not long after he was bashed brutally, and almost fatally, while inside the centre, is just one failing among many. The most obvious failure is the widespread drug use inside the jail and the resulting high levels of hepatitis C among prisoners. The most serious failure, however, given Mr Stanhope's hopes for what was to be the world's first human-rights-focused prison, is the apparent collapse of its rehabilitation efforts.

The findings of Philip Moss's independent report on Freeman's treatment, released last week, were limited due to the pending coronial inquiry. But they suggest that oversights in Freeman's care, and perhaps his death, were preventable. Mr Moss noted: "Rather than the originally intended 30 hours per week, detainees [said] they would have up to one to two hours of programs, education or employment a week ... The lack of a structured day inevitably leads to boredom, which invites the possibility and added risk of detainees using illegal drugs."

Mr Stanhope's disappointment is plain. He told Mr Moss's inquiry: "It is clear that the original vision for the [Alexander Maconochie Centre] as the most human-rights-compliant, rehabilitation-focussed prison in the world has not been achieved." He specifically added: "I believe the failure to provide clean needles to drug users detained at the [prison] is unacceptable and indefensible."

Prisons everywhere pose policymakers with enormously difficult quandaries. It's entirely unsurprising that Canberra's jail, whatever hopes Mr Stanhope held for it, suffers from problems common to most prisons, such as drug use, violence and, in all likelihood, some malfeasance on the part of staff.

Yet Freeman's death warrants a thorough reaction; a genuine attempt by the government to better protect detainees and to restore the lost focus on helping them play a useful role in the community. This response must include fixing the problem posed by dirty, infected needles, which has contributed to alarming levels of disease within the prison population. And it must lead to a prosecution of those who bashed Freeman yet, inconceivably, remain undetected and unpunished.

If the government can't deal with these issues, it should rename the prison; Lieutenant Maconochie deserves a nobler legacy.