Smoking will be banned at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC), Canberra’s prison, over the next year.
Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Corrections, said the recommendation was made in the Blueprint for Change: A New Future for Custodial Services report, which an independent committee handed down to the ACT Government earlier this year.
The report highlighted smoking in the AMC as a major cause of risk. Detainees used lighters to start fires, often causing significant cost and disruption. Tobacco was used as a form of currency that resulted in violence and standover tactics between detainees, and as an aid to deescalating antisocial behaviour. Removing tobacco would simplify the detainee buy-up process and improve discipline at the CTU.
The ACT is one of only two jurisdictions that still permits smoking in some correctional facilities, Mr Gentleman noted. (The other is Western Australia.) Smoking is banned in all other ACT government buildings, including the secure mental health facility.
“This is an important step in the ACT Government’s work to improve custodial services and outcomes,” Mr Gentleman said.
The minister expects the transition to a smoke-free AMC will take around 12 months.
“We know that quitting smoking is tough, but for the health and safety of all detainees and staff, it has to be done,” he said.
Approximately 82 per cent of prisoners smoke, and 14 per cent first took up smoking when they were in detention, according to survey data collected from inmates in 2016. 60 per cent of respondents had tried to quit smoking while in detention, and 67 per cent indicated they would like to quit smoking, ACT Corrective Services Commissioner Ray Johnson noted.
“Detainees are not being asked to quit cold turkey,” Mr Gentleman said.
“Staff at the AMC will be supported to quit smoking if they wish to, as they also won’t be able to smoke within the facility.”
Nicotine replacement therapies and supports to help people cope with withdrawal symptoms will be available during the transition.
The ACT Government has invited prisoners, corrections staff, and service providers to share their ideas on how best to manage the transition.
“We are fortunate to be able to learn from the challenges other correctional facilities faced when they transitioned to being smoke-free,” Mr Gentleman said.
When the Victorian government banned smoking in 2015, a violent riot broke out at a maximum security prison in Melbourne.
Dr Kerryn Coleman, ACT Chief Health Officer, is pleased AMC will become smoke-free.
“The AMC has a significantly higher smoking rate than the general population, and this is an important step to protect all detainees, staff, and visitors from the harmful effects of smoking,” she said.
