A NUMBER of women at the Alexander Maconochie Centre have been placed out of the women’s facilities due to a shortage of beds, says shadow minister for Women and Corrections Giulia Jones. 

Mrs Jones says it was revealed at the Estimates Hearings that the Alexander Maconochie Centre has been forced to house up to 45 women in facilities designed for 29, which is an increase from 32 in February.

“I am amazed that Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury has known there is a shortage of beds since February and yet the government has allowed the number of women to reach up to 45 without a corresponding plan of action to permanently expand the women’s facilities at the prison,” she says. 

“In the hearings, government officials confirmed current makeshift arrangements that included housing women in the management unit (14 beds) and the health centre (four beds).

“The minister is now investigating whether to house women in an area of the men’s side of the prison.”