Women prisoners at Canberra's jail have presented a bleak picture of life inside as staff shortages because of COVID hit the way the institution is run.
In a letter from the women's section of the Alexander Maconochie Centre, they say sexual and other assaults by women on other women have worsened.
"The number of assaults has exponentially increased as ALL female detainees are forced to not just mix, but live together despite their security classification, mental health status, or criminal history," the group says.
The ACT Government said that eight per cent of the staff at the prison were off at one stage because of COVID.
The women prisoners described what they see as the dangerous result of the shortages in their letter to Julie Tongs, the chief executive of the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service. She said the letter came from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous female prisoners.
"The accommodation arrangements, lack of purposeful activity, COVID lockdown, escalating violence and next to no access to mental health or counselling services has resulted in the physical and mental wellbeing of female detainees being at an all time low," the prisoners wrote.
"We can only cross our fingers that there is not a serious incident as the frustration levels of both detainees and custodial staff grows."
The women's complaints are not linked to the death of a 27-year-old male prisoner whose body was found on February 1.
On this, the ACT Government said it couldn't comment because it was being investigated by the police and the ACT Inspector of Correctional Services. Concerns have been raised about whether the man was left unmonitored in a vulnerable mental state.
On the female prisoners' complaints, a spokesperson said the prison was "subject to oversight through a range of bodies including the Official Visitors Scheme. This scheme allows appointed Official Visitors to visit the Alexander Maconochie Centre to monitor conditions, report any issues adversely affecting detainees and, if appropriate, refer complaints to appropriate bodies."
But it added: "A number of measures are currently being implemented to address concerns that have been raised by the Official Visitors".
The government accepted that COVID had "impacted" the prison. On January 31, 22 of the 268 staff were absent.
READ ALSO:
- Prisoner found dead at Canberra's Alexander Maconochie Centre
- AMC inmate Julian Leslie Yeaman sentenced for cell fire protesting others controlling his mind
- Alexander Maconochie Centre's awkward legal breach
- COVID lockdown of prisoners at Alexander Maconochie Centre jail continues
The women prisoners complain that "vulnerable detainees" aren't protected: "There has even been blatant sexual harassment and unwanted sexual advances made from some female detainees to another female prisoner in front of custodial staff who merely laughed at the situation."
The letter says that staff shortages meant that vulnerable new arrivals have had to wait up to three days for a shower.
"One detainee was so distressed that she self-harmed by cutting herself with a razor blade. Instead of receiving appropriate care, however, she was thanked by the custodial staff for the entertaining display and provided with new razors later that day," the letter claims.
Julie Tongs said: "The women are desperate and for them to take it upon themselves to write to me raises serious issues which need to be addressed."
Staffing and conditions at the jail have been a long-running sore for the ACT government. Last year, it took on 22 new prison officers after overtime pay had soared.
In November 2020, there was a riot when 27 inmates initially refused to move from cells and then set fire to furniture.
