Almost 300 strip searches of detainees at Canberra's jail could have been avoided last year if full-body scanners, which arrived in June, were operational.
Two Rapiscan X-ray body scanners worth $550,000 were installed at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC), but have sat idle because they lacked radiation certification.
This week, ACT Health approved the registration of the machines to be used at the AMC after assessing "complex technical material".
"As the Tek84 body scanners are being used for security rather than medical purposes, there were additional processes required to assess and justify their intended use," an ACT government spokesperson said.
Operating procedures for the scanners have been finalised and staff have been trained in radiation safety, with those who operate them needing a licence.
The scanners can now be switched on but it is not clear when they will begin being used to screen prisoners for banned objects like mobile phones, drugs or weapons.
While the machines were in the jail but unregistered, there were 292 strip searches carried out in the second half of last year, according to figures provided to the ABC.
Of those, 85 were on the suspicion of a concealed weapon or contraband, and the other 207 were mandatory strip searches on admission.
Scathing prison strip search report prompts government to act
The scanners are part of the ACT government's response to a damning report into the strip search of an Indigenous woman at the AMC in 2021.
The report found it was "highly traumatic" for the detainee who was a survivor of sexual assault and that the search breached the ACT's human rights act.
The woman is suing the AMC over her treatment with the matter currently before the ACT Supreme Court.
Julie Tongs, who heads the Aboriginal detainee health service Winnunga Nimmityjah, said it was ridiculous for the scanners to be sitting idle for so long.
"There's not really any excuse for that," Ms Tongs said.
"I think that if you're going to invest that amount of money then you need to have equipment like that operational as soon as possible.
"It's deplorable, everything they do out there, it takes forever and I think that the sooner they get rid of strip searches, which are very invasive, the better."
Strip searches to continue for new detainees, despite body scanners
ACT Inspector of Correctional Services Rebecca Minty said the registration of the scanners was a "really positive development towards reducing harmful strip searches".
"But still the delay has been disappointing and I really hope these scanners will be up and running really soon," Ms Minty said.
Even when the scanners are operational, detainees can expect to continue to be strip searched when they first arrive at the AMC.
"This is to ensure that any immediate health or safety or security risks and needs of a detainee can be identified," an ACT Government spokesperson said.
Ms Minty said she was advocating for an end to routine, mandatory strip searching on admission.
"Because international practice, international law and also ACT human rights law is clear that strip searching should only be used as an absolute last resort where less intrusive searching methods have failed," she said.
She noted the jail's searching policy states that a scanning search is one of the options available to officers on admission to a correctional centre.
Strip searches detect little contraband
Authorities have justified strip searching on the basis that it is an effective way to detect contraband that risks the security and good order of a correctional centre.
But Ms Minty said research had shown that strip searching was in fact ineffective at detecting contraband.
An AMC strip search register, published under Freedom of Information, for 1 October 2021 to 30 April 2022 shows 1,201 strip searches took place during that seven-month period and 23 uncovered contraband.
The banned items included cigarette lighters, gold jewellery, tobacco, a mobile phone battery, SIM cards, illicit drugs, a shiv, car key, razor blade, methadone and a concealed glove with urine in it.
Of the detainees searched, about 30 per cent were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Data obtained by the Human Rights Law Centre for that same seven-month period the year before shows 2,352 strip searches were conducted and 22 items of contraband found.
The WA Inspector of Custodial Services reported in 2019 that 900,000 strip searches were conducted in WA prisons over five years and only 571 contraband items were found.
Even without the scanner in use, the number of strip searches of detainees in Canberra has been coming down.
In 2020–21, ACT Correctional Services conducted 4077 strip searches but it is understood that number has roughly halved since then.
It is believed changes to the policy of searching detainees travelling to and from court has contributed to the reduction.
The two body scanners will be used on detainees only, compared to NSW which uses theirs on visitors too.
Winnunga's Julie Tongs is calling for the scanners to be used for everybody, including visitors and staff.
The total cost of the scanners and their installation was $661,162.
