From May, detainees will have access to two one-hour visitor sessions between Wednesday and Sunday, down from one possible session available on each of those five days.

The new schedule has six one-hour slots per day, as opposed to four sessions under the existing plan, and the visiting hours are sorted by which section of the prison the detainees are housed in.

But Alexander Maconochie Centre manager Don Taylor said the new schedule would be fairer for prisoners and more efficient for prison staff and visitors.

ACT Corrective Services launched the review of the jail's existing visitor schedule after the facility's new special care centre and accommodation unit were completed in February.

The new accommodation unit added 112 beds in 56 cells, upping the medium-security prison's capacity from 370 to 539 beds.

Mr Taylor said the expansion had been a "catalyst" to overhaul the visitor schedule, which he said had become unfair for some detainees as the chronically overcrowded jail's population grew and visiting hours were not being shared evenly.

"We found that the schedules were being taken up by the same people – some people could get visits every day but for others that wasn't the case."

The new schedule spread out visiting hours across cohorts of detainees from the same accommodation units within the jail, Mr Taylor said, and streamlined the visitation process for staff who escorted them to visits.

Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury said all detainees would have at least one visit opportunity each week under the trial schedule.

He said the schedule was designed to ensure "fair and equitable access to visit opportunities" for all detainees.

"The changes will also result in greater efficiencies within ACT Corrective Services, to maximise a detainee's visit time with their family and friends."

Mr Rattenbury said the schedule would be reviewed in six months and visitors, oversight agencies and detainees would be able to provide feedback.

The new schedule would not change current visiting arrangements for legal or professional representatives, who can visit the jail seven days a week.