Residents reassured as prisoners move to Symonston

THE first inmates are about to be moved to the Symonston Correctional Centre to ease the controversial overcrowding at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

“Residents can be assured that there are appropriate security measures in place, including CCTV and a secure perimeter,” says Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury.

“In the coming days, ACT Corrective Services will transfer a small, carefully selected cohort of detainees to the Symonston facility to be accommodated there on a full time basis. The number of detainees may vary but it will not exceed 22 individuals.

“The detainees identified as suitable to be moved to Symonston will be individually assessed by ACT Corrective Services, considering risk factors and health needs, to ensure only detainees who have proved to be compliant in the AMC and who pose a low risk are accommodated there.

“The Symonston Correctional Centre is a secure facility and currently used to house offenders undertaking periodic detention. It has also previously been used as a full-time remand centre.

He says the facility will be used temporarily while ACT Corrective Services awaits the completion of additional accommodation units currently in construction within the AMC campus, with the first of those units expected to become available in the second half of this year.

 

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