The Territory Government has agreed to adopt 20 of the 22 recommendations proposed by the ACT Inspector of Correctional Services in his recent review of the operation of the Corrective Services Court Transport Unit (CTU).
ACT Inspector of Correctional Services, Neil McAllister commended the commitment of the Territory to the continual improvement of correctional services.
“This response is very positive,” Mr McAllister said.
“We hope that it will lead to significant improvements for the CTU staff and people who are detained at the court cells,” he said.
“We have already seen some progress at the CTU, including the creation of the new Director position to provide stable leadership at the CTU.”
Mr McAllister said the response to the Review of the ACT Corrective Services Court Transport Unit (CTU) acknowledged that the role of CTU officers was different from that of Corrections Officers at the Alexander Maconochie Centre and noted that the acknowledgement was central to ensuring there were more specific training and policies and procedures for the CTU.
“We are pleased that the key safety recommendations in the report were agreed to, particularly that the ACT Government has committed to replacing the Romeo 4 transport vehicle,” Inspector McAlister said.
He said the key issues identified in his review included a lack of up-to-date policies and procedures; one vehicle was in urgent need of replacement; CTU officers were not familiar with emergency management procedures; officers would appreciate more specific CTU-training; and officers were very uneasy about working with children and young people.
The Inspector’s 46-page report of his review can be accessed at this PS News link.
