| Australian Prisons | |
| Alexander Maconochie Centre | |
| Location: | Symonston, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
| Address: | 10400 Monaro Highway, Hume ACT 2620 |
| Status: | Open |
| Classification: | Multi Grade (Minimum to Maximum Security) / Remand / Male & Female |
| Capacity: | 300+ |
| Managed by: | ACT Corrective Services |
The Alexander Maconochie Centre is an Australian prison and remand centre complex in the Australian Capital Territory.
The centre is designed as a multi-role facility to replace the Belconnen Remand Centre and provide detention facilities so that prisoners who are currently held in New South Wales facilities may be held locally. The prison caters to all security levels and is designed and will be run in accordance with ACT Human Rights Standards.[1] The idea is to reform prisoners, so that they can return to a normal life after their sentence is over. The centre is named after penal reformer Alexander Maconochie, who worked in Tasmania and Norfolk Island from 1836 to 1844.
The prison can hold 300 prisoners. It is organised as a campus, with accommodation cottages around a town square that contains common facilities. There is a health building, admissions building, education building, a library and a visiting centre. The prisoners are expected to construct their own gymnasium. It is located on the Monaro Highway in Hume.[2]
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The prison was officially opened on 11 September 2008 by the Chief Minister of the ACT, Jon Stanhope. It took 22 months to build, the total cost of construction being $131 million. The Police Minister, Simon Corbell appointed Craig Sams as the first official visitor.[3]
The Alexander Maconochie Centre has been home to David Eastman since shortly after it was opened; he is serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of Colin Winchester, Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.[4]
The Alexander Maconochie Centre has been the subject of controversy during its planning, construction, and period immediately post opening. A chief criticism related to the facility's large initial cost estimates and even larger final price tag.
The central argument by proponents of the facility was that the facility would save the ACT millions of dollars every year because it would not have to pay for prisoners to be held in New South Wales-operated prisons. Based on the current cost of approximately $60,000 per year (per prisoner) that it costs for the ACT to send prisoners interstate, the centre was to pay for itself in fifteen years. However, an increase in the costs of construction and operation of the prison will no doubt mean that the facility will take longer to pay for itself.
The other major controversy was a doubt over whether or not the ACT, with a population of just over 320,000, actually needs its own prison. Based on the assumption that the prison would be in operation in early 2007, it would only be 25% utilised. (The prison did not open until September 2008, and did not become fully operational until early 2009.) Given the expense of staff and operating the prison, some doubted whether it would be any cheaper than the former prison agreement with the New South Wales government.
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