From left, Dr Penelope Mathew, Julianne Francis Williams and Sam Tierney all became involved in the wider case. Photos: NZLS, Facebook, Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article may distress some readers.
A judge found a detainee was illegally strip-searched at Canberra’s jail, breaching her human rights, in what her lawyers say was a landmark case in the ACT.
As a result of the findings, the ACT Human Rights Commission has called on the ACT Government to implement a human rights training package for Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) employees.
In 2021, Julianne Francis Williams’ mental health deteriorated, and she was transferred to the jail’s crisis support unit. There, she was subjected to a forceful attempted strip search in her cell before the strip search was carried out in the bathroom.
She launched a civil case against ACT’s Justice and Community Safety Directorate in the ACT Supreme Court, asking for a declaration that her human rights had been breached.
The hearing heard her lawyers claim she had suffered “cruel, degrading and inhuman conduct”.
On Thursday (4 September), Justice Verity McWilliam found her human rights were breached over both the attempted strip search and the strip search.
Sam Tierney from Ken Cush & Associates, who represented Ms Williams, said his client was a grieving Indigenous Australian woman who was refused leave to attend her grandmother’s funeral before she was subjected to the unlawful use of force and strip searches conducted by ACT Corrective Services officers.
“The court found numerous breaches of the ACT Human Rights Act had been committed and will shortly issue formal declarations to, in part, mark the court’s strong disapproval of the unlawful conduct,” he said.
“Ms Williams is grateful to the ACT Supreme Court for its careful and detailed consideration of her case and would like to thank her legal team for their support in bringing this landmark case.”
Justice McWilliam said working in the ACT’s prison and corrective services system was a complex, difficult and often thankless job, and this case demonstrated how difficult decisions must be made by staff while under pressure.
“However, at the heart of those decisions there lies a significant responsibility to maintain respect for the rights and liberty of individuals detained by the Territory, however curtailed those rights or liberties may be by the fact of incarceration,” she said.
Julianne Francis Williams was held at the Alexander Maconochie Centre when she was strip-searched. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Justice McWilliam said during the attempted strip search, four shield-carrying corrections officers entered Ms Williams’ cell when she was lying on her bed to cut her clothes off in front of male corrections officers standing outside and moving into the cell.
“It humiliated and debased her,” she said.
She said Ms Williams’ consent to the bathroom strip search was “obtained in circumstances of severe distress and degradation”, even though officers conducted this search properly.
The judge said Ms Williams was a very challenging detainee facing difficult circumstances. This created a confluence of policy and management issues at the AMC that escalated to a crisis point, she said.
She said her findings did not mean that the AMC’s policies and procedures were insufficient to protect detainees’ human rights, nor that corrections officers disregarded the rights of detainees.
“If there is anything to take away from the conduct that occurred, it is that those who are applying the policies and their requirements daily need all the support they can get from those who lead them, the detainees they manage, and the community they protect,” Justice McWilliam said.
An ACT Human Rights Commission spokesperson said they were concerned the obligation to protect and promote detainees’ human rights had become a secondary concern in the AMC.
“Given the court’s findings, we now call on the ACT Government to immediately fund and implement a comprehensive, ongoing human rights education and training package for all employees in the AMC, with particular emphasis on regular compulsory human rights training for those in leadership and management positions,” ACT Human Rights Commissioner Dr Penelope Mathew said.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
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