Lack of meaningful work in Alexander Maconochie Centre leads to prisoner boredom, discontent

Tasks such as sweeping floors a few hours per week inside the prisoners' own cell blocks are counted as "jobs" within the prison system, but the independent Inspector of Correctional Services described most of these roles as "menial" in nature and offering little to alleviate the ever-rising rate of prisoner boredom.

Only 1 in 40 people within the prison are engaged in anything approaching full-time work, the inspector found in his latest damning report.

The 2020-21 Report on Government Services found that the ACT had the highest per prisoner net jail operating expenses and capital costs than anywhere in the country at $528.57.

And yet the inspector found there were only around 10 jobs within the entire Alexander Maconochie Centre - from a jail population comprising more than 400 men and women - that offered up to 30 hours of work a week.

In three years since the inspector's previous Healthy Prisons Review, Canberra's prison has only got unhealthier for those incarcerated within its three rows of chain link fences walls at Symonston.

"There are also many people who are unemployed, which impacts their ability to earn a reasonable income, perpetuates disadvantage, and further contributes to the lack of routine and motivation experienced by many detainees," the inspector noted.

"Women detainees have fewer opportunities than men for meaningful employment as they are largely restricted to jobs within the Women's Community Centre . . . and the bakery".

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Boredom through a lack of meaningful work inside the jail has risen from 64 per cent three years ago to a new high of 79 per cent, a prisoner survey found.

And as the review pointed out, boredom only creates trouble.

Two years ago a riot started inside the prison which went on for hours and involved 28 inmates. Fires were lit inside cells, leading to a repair bill of $5.7 million. The head of Corrections was shifted out of the top job shortly afterwards.

The lack of training and employment opportunities within the jail's too-small footprint was acknowledged as a major shortcoming by the political "architect" of the centre, former ACT Chief Minister and Labor leader Jon Stanhope, who once championed the facility but now describes it as an "appalling failure".

Prisoner routine and responsibility are regarded as fundamental requirements to establishing structure and purpose within any prison.

"Having a reason to get up in the morning, get ready and show up to their job on time helps detainees establish routine and responsibility, gives their day a purpose and helps them prepare for daily life following their release," the inspector noted in his latest review.

Detainee tension caused by boredom and the lack of a structured day for inmates was identified separately in the Blueprint for Change report released in March this year. It found that lack of structure for prisoners has a debilitating effect on interactions between inmates and corrections staff.

The report committee, chaired by former Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon, urged "mechanisms that promote positive detainee engagement" to defuse tension within the prison.

Its report also recommended "a review of the 'structured day' with appropriate facilities, materials and work options, with a view to provide additional opportunities for positive detainee engagement in activities that support sentence management planning goal investment in industries opportunities".

For the second time in three years, the independent inspector requested that ACT Corrective Services "commit to and fund" a multi-purpose industries building. This was recommended back in 2019, accepted by the ACT government but never progressed.

In response, ACT Corrective Services said it "continues to investigate options for the development of a multi-purpose industry building in the context of medium to long-term accommodation planning".

"This will reflect current and projected detainee population and inform options for sustainable investment in infrastructure going forward," it said.

"ACT Corrective Services remains committed to preparing detainees to be job ready once they are released from custody, including through the Transitional Release Program. Currently ACTCS is working with several potential employers to prepare detainees with skills needed to be employed on release."

The ACT Government will formally respond in detail to the recommendations in the 2022 Healthy Prison Review in the new year.

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