Prison detainee Isa Islam, on Thursday in his 54th day of refusing food, is bed-ridden at the Canberra Hospital. He had been serving multiple sentences for violent offences when he began his hunger strike on December 9.

Royce and Robyn Ewing, who live at Wellstead, about 100km east of Albany, Western Australia.

Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury confirmed the parents are now in Canberra and have seen their son.

Islam, 44, who changed his name from Carl Ewing to Isa Islam, has been in hospital since January 10. He is taking fluids and remains lucid at this time but has refused any food.

It is the first time that ACT Corrections has had to deal with a prisoner on an extended hunger strike and Mr Rattenbury freely admitted that he had reached out to other jurisdictions for advice.

Islam has made several demands of the ACT government including an early release, settlement of his personal debts, financial compensation and religious freedom.

One of Islam's key complaints was that he was not given the opportunity to pray as he wished.

Mr Rattenbury said that he had had sought clarity on this claim and it was told that other prisoners had mocked him for his religious beliefs.

"We have received a number of demands from the detainee; they have varied over time. It continues to be a day-to-day proposition," Mr Rattenbury said.

"As each demand comes through we would consider those that but at this time, our primary concern is his health and welfare.

"There are certain things he has demanded that are beyond the legal authority, I think even the moral authority, of the ACT government to give to him."

In July 2009, Islam, a Canberra street preacher, was given a nine-year jail term with a non-parole period of four and a half years for stabbing a man outside an Ainslie takeaway shop, leaving the victim a quadraplegic.

Then in 2015, he was sentenced to a further six years' jail for bashing a fellow inmate so badly that the victim required intubation, was hospitalised for four weeks and required facial reconstructive surgery.

During his time in jail, Islam has made more than 20 separate claims of discrimation against corrections officers, sought orders requiring prison management to ensure officers and contractors did not breach the Human Rights Act, and for two officers to undergo remedial training in relation to discrimination, unlawful search and seizure, and inmate safety.

He has also pursued civil action to gain better access to a prison computer and other support services.

In his most recent case in November last year he claimed that jail authorities breached his human rights by serving him an incorrect meal.

As Islam's health deteriorates, key questions emerge as to the health authorities' course of action should he lose consciousness.

Mr Rattenbury said he would not make public the legal advice received by the government which forbids health authorities from intervening and force-feeding the prisoner to keep him alive.

He would not disclose whether or not written advice had been received from the prisoner around the instructions to medical staff should Islam lose consciousness.

"If somebody is to lose consciousness, the Canberra Health Services would deal with that as a medical matter, subject to the detainee's directives that he has given," Mr Rattenbury said.

"In terms of the legal question, my advice is that whilst the government might apply for [Supreme Court] orders, that is a matter of a legal decision around whether someone is considered to be mentally competent in the first instance.

"The second part is that we cannot force somebody to eat. I cannot get a legal order which forces someone to eat."

Mr Rattenbury said because of the extended period in which the detainee has refused food, "there are now medical complications which would require careful processes to be undertaken" should the prisoner choose to resume eating.