“UNHAPPY” detainees started four fires at the Alexander Maconochie Centre after 27 prisoners refused to lock into their cells last night (November 10), according to corrective services commissioner Jon Peach. 

Commissioner Peach said staff followed protocol and withdrew from the area and secured the entire prison and accounted for all the detainees and every staff member before returning to the “unit accommodation north”.

“[By then the] detainees had exited the unit into a secure yard attached to the unit and started a fire within the unit,” Mr Peach said.

“From there we established a secure perimeter and with the support of ACT Fire and Rescue and ACT police established an external perimeter.

“The first fire was extinguished relatively quickly and we continued negotiations with the detainees for them to return to their cells. Over the next two hours they started a further three fires. The first one in the external yard again and two further fires in cells within the accommodation unit.”

At about 10pm yesterday evening Mr Peach said the prison secured the detainees in the external yard and negotiated a surrender with the detainees. 

“At no point did they make any threats towards staff. They had armed themselves with weapons from inside the unit but at no point did they show any violence towards our staff,” he said.

The incident was resolved peacefully at 10.30pm, he said. 

“By 3am this morning we returned everybody to new locations within the jail,” he said. 

Mr Peach won’t speculate on why the prisoners set fires but believes they’re unhappy with elements of their incarceration and said COVID-19 has escalated this.

As for the damage of the prison, so far the commissioner can only report that there’s water damage from extinguishing fires, fire damage of some doors, linen and bedding. 

He said the rest of the infrastructure seems to be intact. 

The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) were quick to comment on the incident at AMC last night, saying it highlights the need for urgent reforms in the prison.

ACTCOSS CEO Dr Emma Campbell said: “We condemn yesterday’s disturbance in the prison that endangered the safety and wellbeing of both detainees and staff.

“We need to fix the prison. ACTCOSS and other community organisations have long been calling for major reform of the AMC.

“Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Productivity Commission highlighted ongoing issues of overcrowding, prisoners locked in cells for extended periods, relatively low participation of eligible prisoners in training programs and unacceptable levels of assaults.

“The 2019 Healthy Prison Review by the Inspector of Correctional Services was also highly critical of aspects of AMC operations.

“The Review highlighted gaps in record keeping relating to strip searching, use of force, separate confinement and segregation orders, and time out of cells. This means that oversight bodies cannot fully monitor the wellbeing of detainees. It also reported a lack of access to mental health support.”

Dr Campbell said that the ACT government needed to address remand policies at the AMC by separating people on remand including in the women’s section.

“The AMC does not separate people who are convicted of a crime from those who are on remand. This contradicts ACT Corrections legislation and international human rights law,” she said.

ACTCOSS is calling on the ACT government to focus on rehabilitation and urgently implement and fund all of the Inspector of Correctional Services Healthy Prison Review of the AMC recommendations.