24/02/2026
Canberra Times today - wondering if there's a number on my head, and Cindy's too. Time to take out a life insurance policy.
Vetting visitors but not staff: former Canberra jail staff allege corruption
By Bageshri Savyasachi
Updated February 23 2026 - 5:38pm, first published 11:38am
While general visitors to the Alexander Maconochie Centre face sniffer dogs and oral inspections, correctional officers and professional visitors can walk in with "a kilo of co***ne" undetected, former staff have alleged.
Two former ACT Corrective Services staff, Janine Haskins and Cindy Malta, say a contraband trade has flourished inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre thanks to corrupt officers and "relaxed" security.
Contrary to the name, a life sentence in Australia does not always mean a prisoner will spend their whole life behind bars.
The allegations come after an ACT Ombudsman finding that the AMC had overcharged detainees for calls, following a complaint from Ms Haskins, and a recent court hearing that revealed the jail failed to record the multiple results of cell searches and drug tests.
Responding to questions from The Canberra Times, an ACT government spokesman said more than 30 visitors and fewer than three staff have been suspected of smuggling prohibited items into the jail since January 2025.
Previously, the Justice and Community Safety Directorate publicly released letters banning suspicious visitors from the jail. Documents relating to accused staff members were not made public.
When I worked for corrective services, we called it ACT corruptive services. There's a lot of stuff going on behind closed doors
- Former probation and parole officer at Belconnen Remand Centre, Janine Haskins
ACT Corrective Services has acknowledged the allegations from both former staff members.
Professional visitor was 'never' searched
Former staff, Janine Haskins and Cindy Malta (inset) have made serious allegations of corruption inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Pictured by Gary Ramage and supplied
Ms Haskins, who previously worked as a probation and parole officer at the Belconnen Remand Centre, has professional visitor status at the AMC similar to lawyers and workers required for detainees' welfare.
"When I worked for corrective services, we called it ACT Corruptive Services. There's a lot of stuff going on behind closed doors," Ms Haskins said.
"If they didn't like you as a detainee, you're pretty much rooted, so everyone just has to shut their mouths and do what they're told."
I never had the dogs on me, or had to empty my pockets. I could have had a kilo of co***ne chained to my leg for all they knew.
- Janine Haskins
Ms Haskins was also a case manager, part of the AMC's throughcare program operated by the St Vincent de Paul Society in 2017. Her work involved regularly helping detainees approaching release to help prepare them for life in the community.
"I can unequivocally state that staff members are known to provide contraband to detainees at a cost. You can get anything in there at a price. Money talks out there," she alleged.
Ms Haskins, now a prison reform advocate, is the mother of Brontë Haskins, who died by su***de days after being released from AMC in 2020.
Prison reform advocate Janine Haskins outside the Alexander Maconochie Centre complex. Picture by Gary Ramage
She said security protocols were strict for general visitors - involving sniffer dogs, hair checks, oral inspections - but very lax for professional visitors who only went through iris scanners and metal detectors.
"I never had the dogs on me, or had to empty my pockets. I could have had a kilo of co***ne chained to my leg for all they knew," the former case manager said.
"I could have brought in just about anything to 'share' with the detainees, and this continues to remain the same for all AMC staff members," she said.
Ms Haskins said a former detainee has since alleged a 50-gram pouch of to***co was being sold to detainees for more than $2000 following the jail's smoking ban in 2023.
"Not a bad little money-earner for those willing to take what appears to be a mitigated risk," she said.
Smoking paraphernalia was the most common type of contraband found in the AMC in 2024-25, ACT Corrective Services previously reported.
'Nobody checked' correctional officers
Former AMC correctional officer, Cindy Malta, also began her 20-year ACT Corrective Services career at the Belconnen Remand Centre and left the agency in 2019.
She told The Canberra Times there were "not enough" security checks for officers working in the prison.
"There's only two ways to get [contraband] in, and that's through visitors and through officers," she alleged.
"Not saying they're [correctional officers] all corrupt, but people will take advantage," she said.
Former ACT correctional officer, Cindy Malta. Picture supplied
Ms Malta worked in AMC's Court Transport Unit, tasked with transporting remandees and prisoners to and from the AMC.
She alleged a lack of checks at the jail's sally port, or vehicle entrance, allowed items like food, lighters, makeup, and drugs to be taken into the prison.
"It started off really simple. It started off with people just baking cakes to take to the other officers on the inside, and nobody ever checked it," Ms Malta said.
"I went 'You can't do that because it's not been checked'. Everybody laughed. They said 'yeah, we can, nobody checks anyway'. That was the attitude. Nobody checked."
Procedural security measures such as searching of staff and visitors require few or no financial resources and must also be given urgent attention.
- 2025 Healthy Prison Review of Alexander Maconochie Centre
She alleged daily security checks for staff and professional visitors depended on who was working at the prison's front entrance.
"[If] you forget something in your pocket - a USB stick - normally, you'd have to put it in your locker and you'd be written up. But if your mate's on, 'don't worry about it, just make sure you do the right thing'," she said.
"It's pretty relaxed."
Ms Malta said staff were encouraged to report corrupt and illegal matters, but were too afraid to speak out.
"They don't want to give up their well-paid job to dob someone in because there are consequences," she said.
"They want to be seen as running this fantastic jail - it's not fantastic," Ms Malta said.
Ms Malta alleged no action was taken when she reported incidents involving corruption and prohibited items.
She said she was "bullied" out of the job and left corrections after she was reported for not disposing a detainee's loose leaf to***co and taking her child to work on one occasion.
Prison reform advocate Janine Haskins outside the Alexander Maconochie Centre complex. Picture by Gary Ramage
In the 2025 Healthy Prison Review of Canberra jail, the office of the ACT Custodial Services Inspector said searching of staff and visitors required few or no financial resources and should be given "urgent attention".
One of the review's top recommendations said ACT Corrective Services should introduce "more rigorous searching and integrity measures for the Alexander Maconochie Centre" within 18 months (July 2026).
The recommended measures included requiring anyone entering the AMC to undergo a more thorough electronic scan, increased searching, and alcohol and drug testing of Alexander Maconochie Centre staff.
The review also said relevant policies should include detail of what support and sanctions would be applied to prison staff who tested positive to alcohol or illicit drugs while on duty.
Agency's response:
In response to the allegations, an agency spokesman said: "ACT Corrective Services acknowledges the concerns that have been raised."
He said the agency took staff bullying, misconduct or corrupt behaviour extremely seriously and that unlawful activity related to the AMC could be reported to the ACT Corrective Services Intelligence Unit or to ACT Policing.
Corrupt conduct can be reported to the ACT Integrity Commission, he said.
The spokesman said the agency had worked to strengthen its practices and ensure continuous improvement to safety and security.
He said systems to prevent, detect and respond to contraband entering the AMC, including via staff misconduct were in place, including:
• Screening of staff, visitors and detainees using tools such as xray machines, body scanners and K9 units
• Internal and external barrier controls at all entry points, including the sally port
• A comprehensive searching program using both static and dynamic security
• Clear signage outlining the legal consequences of introducing contraband
"Challenges in keeping correctional centres completely free of contraband are experienced universally across correctional facilities within Australia and beyond," the spokesman said.
Both Ms Haskins' and Ms Malta's allegations follow a death in custody inquest hearing in January which heard of a joint operation outside the jail disrupted attempts to bring contraband into the jail.
However, the court also heard the AMC did not record results of multiple cell searches, drug tests, X-ray scans and other security processes between 2023 and 2025.
