Today the ACT National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) and the Commonwealth NPM made 30 recommendations to ACT Policing after joint visits to the ACT Watch House and 5 ACT Police Stations between 23 May and 23 June 2025 to evaluate the detention facilities at the sites.
Staff from the ACT Ombudsman, Commonwealth NPM, ACT Human Rights Commission and the ACT Inspector of Custodial Services attended the ACT Watch House, Belconnen Police Station, Gungahlin Police Station, Tuggeranong Police Station, Woden Police Station and Jervis Bay Police Station.
‘The visits revealed shortcomings in ACT Policing’s ability to collect data to identify systemic issues and make improvements in police custody practices as well as deficiencies impacting upon the safety and the welfare of both officers and people deprived of liberty,’ said ACT Ombudsman, Iain Anderson.
The recommendations aim to drive improvements to critical infrastructure, safety measures, data collection, staffing models, training, transportation, adoption of body scanner technology and safeguards for the dignity and privacy of people deprived of liberty. ACT Policing has accepted 29 of the recommendations.
‘There were several positive initiatives observed throughout the visits, nonetheless it was evident that more work is needed to bring facilities up to an acceptable standard,’ added Mr Anderson.
The full post visit report is available here:
These visits also enabled the NPM to assess ACT Policing’s implementation of the 53 suggestions made in 2024. Of those recommendations, 26 had been fully implemented, 15 were partially implemented, 11 had not yet been implemented and 1 was superseded. The report on implementation progress is available here:
For media enquiries email: ACTNPM@ombudsman.gov.au.