The first Australian jail designed to meet human rights obligations, it was specifically meant to offer an experience at least partly approximating "normal life", with a mix of cell blocks, domestic-style cottages, and a transitional release centre. The emphasis was to be on rehabilitation through education and training.

The AMC is believed to be the only prison in the country that houses both male and female prisoners and unconvicted detainees being held on remand.

It would be a dramatic understatement to say the facility has fallen well short of the worthy, but lofty, ambitions of its founders. It was plagued with delays and cost overruns from the beginning, with the first prisoners not being accepted until March 2009.

By January 2010 costs had blown out to the point where it was reportedly costing $504 per day per inmate; at least twice what was previously paid to the NSW government to incarcerate Canberra's prisoners.

The controversies have continued down the years, with significant concerns over costs, staffing levels, inmate and prisoner officer security, and a growing problem with overcrowding.

Most recently it has been revealed overtime levels have blown out due to the failure of the ACT government to recruit and adequately train a sufficient number of prison officers. Overtime hours have more than tripled, from 8295 five years ago to 30,138 hours in 2019-20.

The figures for 2020-21 are expected to be even worse given officers have already clocked up more than 25,000 hours for the year to date.

The extended lockdowns, made necessary by the shortage of staff, and overcrowding have made a mockery of any suggestion this is a "human rights" prison. Inmates spend extended time in their cells with little or nothing to do because there aren't enough officers to supervise them safely.

That, in turn, creates a more dangerous environment for officers and prisoners by increasing tensions. There was a significant increase in the number of assaults on officers in 2020, with one reportedly being "scalped" after he was pushed down the stairs by an inmate.

Concerns have also been raised about delays in responding to a serious assault, after a report found guards were not doing regular patrols and took 45 minutes to discover an inmate had been stabbed in the head and neck.

That inmate, who had been assaulted at the AMC before, had to be sent to NSW's Silverwater jail because local authorities could not guarantee his safety here.

Another recent report into a prison riot and fire found less than 10 per cent of staff felt they had been properly trained to respond to the incident.

This government must take full responsibility for the failings of the ambitious project Labor undertook with so much confidence in 2004.

Its latest initiative is an oversight committee headed by former Victorian police commissioner Christine Nixon and made up of prison staff, union representatives and oversight bodies.

It remains to be seen how effective this body, which would arguably have benefited from the leadership of an experienced corrective services professional from a larger jurisdiction than a former police officer, will be.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: