Belconnen Remand Centre

Prison in the Australian Capital Territory

35°14′19″S 149°03′45″E / 35.2386°S 149.0626°E / -35.2386; 149.0626StatusClosedSecurity classMinimum to maximum / Remand / Male and femaleCapacity60 (in 2009)[1]Opened1976Closed2009Managed byCustodial Operations in the ACT Corrective Services

Belconnen Remand Centre, or BRC, was an Australian remand custody facility located in Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The centre opened in 1976 and closed in 2009. At times, it held a small number of illegal immigrants.[citation needed]

When it was first established in 1976, the Belconnen Remand Centre was intended to hold around 16 people.[2] The centre's construction had been considered and approved by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's Cabinet in 1973.[3]

Four men escaped the remand centre in July 1988 through a roof in the exercise yard.[4]

In December 1992, then ACT Attorney-General Terry Connolly flagged that the remand centre should be replaced, due to its outmoded architecture and the high operating costs identified at the time.[5]

The ACT Government made the decision to build a new prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, and to decommission the Belconnen Remand Centre, in 2003.[6]

A human rights audit of the operation of the Belconnen Remand Centre and other ACT correctional facilities was conducted in 2007, identifying issues to be avoided in the new Alexander Maconochie Centre, and matters to be improved in the meantime prior to the new prison's establishment.[7]

References

  1. ^ Laverty, Jo (21 May 2009). "The Belconnen Remand Centre". Australian Broadcasting Commission.
  2. ^ ACT Human Rights Commission 2007, p. 23.
  3. ^ Ling, Ted, Prisons and remand centres, National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 11 March 2014
  4. ^ "Four escape remand centre". The Canberra Times. 19 July 1988. p. 3.
  5. ^ Lamberton, Hugh (16 December 1992). "Govt looks at replacing Belconnen remand centre". The Canberra Times. p. 19.
  6. ^ ACT Human Rights Commission 2007, p. 24.
  7. ^ ACT Human Rights Commission 2007, p. iii.

Further reading

  • ACT Human Rights Commission (July 2007), Human Rights Audit on the Operation of ACT Correctional Facilities under Corrections Legislation (PDF), ACT Government, archived (PDF) from the original on 14 February 2014
  • v
  • t
  • e
Prisons in the Australian Capital Territory
Operational facilities for adults
  • Alexander Maconochie Centre
  • Periodic Detention Centre
  • Rehabilitation Programs Unit
Operational facilities for juveniles
  • Bimberi Youth Justice Centre
Closed facilities
  • Belconnen Remand Centre
  • Symonston Temporary Remand Centre
Stub icon

This article about an Australian prison is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e