THE ACT’s prison minister is still to address disturbing allegations of drug taking and inappropriate behaviour levelled against prison officers at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC).
Following prison whistleblower Tim Rust’s explosive revelations of former and serving prison officers of out-of-hours cocaine parties, an affair with an ex-inmate, incriminating photos, senior staff in a hot tub with a junior female officer and integrity reports going ignored, “CityNews” is yet to receive a formal response from the ACT government.
In “CityNews” on May 12, Rust – a former senior director of operations at Canberra’s jail – lifted the lid on a long-standing culture of drug taking among some corrections officers, and accused senior staff of turning a blind eye to it.
“There were a lot of things going on there but nothing was getting done to deal with it,” said Rust, who resigned from the prison in April last year.
He told “CityNews” that prison officer drug parties were widely known about and attended by a core group of 10 officers.
As reported by “CityNews”, it’s understood that the officers – nicknamed the “Bali 10” – have participated in at least three major cocaine-fuelled parties outside of work.
“To my knowledge, all the staff that used to attend such parties, and who may still do so, are still employed at the AMC,” said Rust.
Following publication of the story, “CityNews” put questions to ACT Corrections Minister Mick Gentleman, and former ACT Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury, all of which remain unanswered.
“CityNews” asked whether the former and current ministers were previously made aware of the allegations and whether they took steps to investigate.
The ministers were also asked to confirm whether the ACT Integrity Commission was investigating the matters raised in the article.
Despite an undertaking from a government spokesperson in May that it was “working on a response”, a formal statement is yet to be issued.
Questions put to the Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS) around the departure of the deputy commissioner of Custodial Operations also remain answered.
“CityNews” has questioned the length of time it has taken the government to respond to the questions, and the allegations published by “CityNews” in May.
Rust’s revelations – which have been substantiated by a number of serving and non-serving prison staff – include an affair between a prison officer and an ex-detainee that involved drug taking.
“CityNews” was made aware of photographs that support this allegation. They depict a female former detainee wearing a prison officer’s uniform and hat, and another where a prison officer appears to be holding a bag of white powder.
“CityNews” was also made aware of the existence of a photograph purporting to show seven off-duty prison officers – five males and two females – partying in a spa bath together. The group includes very senior personnel and at least one junior female.
In direct response to the revelations made by Rust and published in “CityNews”, AMC commissioner Ray Johnson circulated a statement to prison staff cautioning them against commenting on the article, particularly on social media.
“This media reporting may lead ill-informed people to comment negatively on ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS),” the prison chief said in a message to staff.
“We should not let the words of the ill-informed impact on us, making ACTCS an even greater and more effective place to work,” he wrote.
Although Johnson, a former ACT chief police officer, has not commented publicly on the matters raised in the article he acknowledged the seriousness of the drug-taking allegations contained in the story.
“Allegations of illicit drug use in any context are serious,” the commissioner wrote.
“If these allegations are accurate, such behaviour is wholly inconsistent with the role and responsibilities of being a corrections officer.
“Contrary to the implication that criminal conduct would be covered up, please know that the leadership team and I do not tolerate staff who break the law.”
In the article, Rust characterised the situation within the AMC as one where senior management were unwilling to carry out a proper investigation, and allegations of inappropriate behaviour were met with a wall of silence.
“You go to work to do the right thing and be an officer of integrity, and you are surrounded by staff doing the wrong thing,” said Rust.
“I’ve done prison work for 24 years and there’s nothing worse when you are locking people up, knowing your colleagues should be behind bars as well.”
As well as highlighting a poor workplace culture that existed within the prison, Rust described the AMC as an “ugly” place to work and called into question the absence of a duty of care towards inmates.
“Prisoners were making weapons and were going into other prisoners’ cells without any oversight from staff, and bashing other prisoners senseless,” Rust said.
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