“The report provides a sense of the deep frustration of the ACT’s Official Visitors and the seemingly cavalier and mind-blowing indifference of the ACT government,” laments political columnist JON STANHOPE.  

The 2024-25 Annual Report of the ACT Official Visitors Board is damning. It is damning to a degree rarely witnessed.

It provides a sense of the deep frustration of the ACT’s Official Visitors and the seemingly cavalier and mind-blowing indifference of the ACT government and its varied instrumentalities to those for whom life is a challenge. 

With undisguised despair, board chair Peter Muir commented in an accompanying media release – titled “ACT Official Visitors Raise Alarm Over Persistent Systemic Failures in 2024-25 Annual Report” – that the report highlighted a range of systemic issues across the disability, mental health, corrections, children and young people, and homelessness sectors in the ACT. 

“Despite repeated reporting and advocacy, many concerns remain unresolved, prompting questions about the seriousness with which key stakeholders, directorates and operational ministers view these issues, some of which are emerging, albeit many being longstanding and entrenched,” he writes. 

Some of the key systemic issues raised by Official Visitors include: 

• Barriers to securing housing after discharge from facilities. 

• Absence of a death review panel for people with disability in care. 

• Poor housing maintenance and limited availability. 

• Inadequate support for First Nations detainees. 

• Deficiencies in the corrections complaints process. 

• Insufficient focus on rehabilitation and reintegration for detainees. 

Here are a few excerpts from the report: “Over the last three consecutive annual reports, there have been cost-cutting and key systemic issues that have been raised by both the Official Visitors and the board that have had little, if any, traction from operational ministers and directorates.” 

“In 2021-22 the Official Visitors raised concerns with respect to difficulties in transitioning from facilities such as the Alexander Machonochie Centre, the Adult Mental Health Unit and the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre due to a lack of housing options. These concerns were raised again in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 reports. The board also highlighted the need for a death in disability care review function which it has raised in every annual report since 2020-2021.” 

The board noted that Corrections discipline has continued to receive the highest proportion of complaints since at least 2020-21 and reports that detainees do not trust the existing systems to respond to complaints, concerns and grievances.

The board also reported that “these issues continue to be reported, for the fourth consecutive year, with minimal progress and long-standing Official Visitors are questioning the degree to which directorates and operational ministers are acting on issues raised.” 

The following is a brief summary of some of the systemic issues identified and reported by Official Visitors and the outcome of the reports. 

Mental health: Transfer of young people from Child & Adolescent Unit (CAU) to Adult Mental Health Unit. 

“This practice has been an ongoing problem for at least the past two years. The primary reason for the transfers is the unsafe design of the existing seclusion/safe room in the CAU resulting in the need to transfer unsettled young people to the adult unit for immediate management. 

“The practice of placing young people in adult units has been the subject of much research and policy guidance elsewhere, indicating that this practice can result in further trauma and the worsening of young people’s conditions.” 

“This issue has been reported in quarterly reporting in March 2022, October 2023, June 2024, September 2024 and March 2025. There has been no formal response from the Minister for Health, the Health Directorate or Canberra Health Services.” 

Bathrooms, bedrooms and the general living environment within the Adult Mental Health Unit. 

“This issue has been the most complained about matter for the Mental Health Official Visitors. Consumers carers and staff have all raised complaints about the poor state of repair of the bathrooms and bedrooms within the unit. 

“Mould, leaking water, peeling paint and poor hygiene are common in nearly all consumer rooms. These issues have been raised with the General Manager of Mental Health, Justice Health, Alcohol and Drug Services and flagged with the Minister for Mental Health at the last meeting.

“To date there has been no mention of any funding for repairs, maintenance and replacement to address this matter.” 

Staff shortages have a significant impact on detainees and staff at the AMC by implementing rolling lock-ins where detainees are locked in cells for additional hours rather than having access to programs, the yard and common areas.

The Official Visitors also report that many detainees are at the AMC for drug-related offences and, despite a range of security measures, drugs remain accessible to detainees.

The Official Visitors also report that many AMC Corrections staff continue to breach the uniform policy by not wearing a name tag. As a consequence, detainees often do not know the names of staff they are dealing with, thus undermining transparency and accountability. 

Among a myriad of other scathing findings Official Visitors express concern about the role played by the AMC in the ACT having a very high rate of recidivism.

They report that the AMC has high levels of boredom with not enough activities, programs, education and employment opportunities to ensure that detainees have a busy, meaningfully constructed day.

Jon Stanhope is a former chief minister.