A report into the fiery riot at Canberra's jail in November has criticised the role played by the former head of the ACT's corrective services.
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The report said the arrival of ACT corrective services commissioner Jon Peach at the Alexander Maconochie Centre on the night of the riot created confusion over who was in charge.
The review comes after Mr Peach was mysteriously shifted sideways to another role in the ACT Justice and Community Services Directorate in early March.
The report also found less than 10 per cent of staff felt they were effectively trained to respond to the incident.
On the evening of November 10, there was an outbreak of violence at the jail in which 27 prisoners armed themselves with broom handles and other implements.
Four fires were also lit and firefighters needed officers with riot shield protection as they fought the blazes.
ACT Inspector of Correctional Services Neil McAllister delivered a report on the review of the incident that was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
The report said the damage bill from the riot will be about $5.7 million - more than double the $2.5 million originally reported.
The report made 13 recommendations for improvement and found there was a lack of support for staff, training and equipment.
But the report was highly critical of the actions of the former commissioner and questioned why he had turned up at the jail on the night of the riot.
The report said the general manager of the jail should have been in charge of responding to the incident but the presence of Mr Peach created confusion.
About 55 per cent of surveyed staff at the jail said it was unclear who was in charge.
"On balance, the office of the inspector of correctional services [OICS] is not persuaded that the value added by the commissioner's presence at the AMC outweighed the confusion it caused amongst AMC staff and the police and emergency services as to who was in charge," the report said.
"In our opinion, the commissioner should not have attended the AMC unless requested to by the GM."
But in an interview with the OICS for the report, Mr Peach defended the role he played.
He said when he arrived at the jail he expressed that the general manager was in charge of the situation.
But Mr Peach said he had formed the view the incident command suite had not been established properly and staff had not been assigned specific roles.
The former commissioner said staff at the prison had not been trained enough to assume formal roles and he had to work with what he had as there was no time to train people on the day.
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An ACT government spokesman for Corrections Minister Mick Gentleman would not be drawn on whether Mr Peach had been moved as a result of the review.
He said Mr Peach had "taken the opportunity" to step into a new role of executive general manager of security and emergency management with the Justice and Community Safety directorate.
"The ACT government is responding to the growing security and emergency management national agenda," he said
"Mr Peach has a strong background in safety and security from his time the UK Armed Forces and as Director for Security Services in the Department of Corrective Services in Western Australia."
Mr Gentleman said the report showed there was more work to be done.
"The findings around a lack of staff support, training and access to equipment are particularly concerning to me," he said.
Mr Peach will be replaced by the Emergency Services Agency deputy commissioner Ray Johnson, who is acting in the role until a new commissioner is appointed.
"I will task acting commissioner Johnson with urgently reviewing the recommendations and developing an action plan for staff training and procedures when he commences next week," Mr Gentleman said.
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