The ACT government has indicated that it may consider using technology that would jam the signal of mobile phones inside Canberra's Alexander Maconochie Centre, where phones are making up an increasing percentage of the contraband seized.
New mobile phone jammers were installed in Goulburn this week at the Supermax 2 high-security unit, which houses extremists and terrorists. If initial testing is successful, there will be a two-year trial at the NSW prison.
The latest generation system includes a number of antennas, which jam the frequencies that would normally transmit mobile phone signals, rendering the devices useless.
A Justice and Community Safety Directorate spokesman said the outcome of the trials in Goulburn might lead to the technology being used in the ACT.
"There is a high degree of complexity in the implementation of mobile phone jamming within the Alexander Maconochie Centre," he said.
"It is notable that this is not the first trial of such technology within Australia and to date solutions have proven to be expensive with varying results."
Mobile phones are commonly found at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in Hume. In 2017, The Canberra Times revealed detainees were being caught with mobile phones the size of a person's thumb. The size of these devices meant they could be smuggled in body cavities and because they contained limited metal, it was more difficult for metal detectors to pick them up.
New figures released to the Sunday Canberra Times this week show 189 mobile phones have been seized at the Alexander Maconochie Centre since the start of 2015. Of those, 31 were taken from detainees so far this year.
In 2019 to date, mobile phones have made up more than 6 per cent of the contraband seized at the ACT prison. This is the highest level in the past five years and is up on the 2018 figure of 5.5 per cent.
The Justice and Community Safety Directorate spokesman said the ACT's Human Rights Act would not prevent the introduction of mobile phone-jamming technology at the Canberra prison, because mobile phones were prohibited items.
"Detainees currently have access to both telephone and email communication through [the Alexander Maconochie Centre] to support their relationships with friends and family," he said.
ACT Inspector of Correctional Services Neil McAllister said it was sensible for the territory government to take a "wait and see approach" while jammers were trialled in Goulburn.
He said one factor to consider if the technology was to be introduced in Canberra would be whether it would impact on people in the area surrounding the prison, including those driving down the Monaro Highway who may need to call emergency services.
