Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) was a private Australian company that existed from 1991 to 2003 and was owned by American company Wackenhut.
History
[edit]From 1998 until 2003 ACM was responsible for running at least six immigration detention centres in Australia. ACM also ran the Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP)[1] in New Zealand from its opening in July 2000 until control reverted to the Public Prisons Service in July 2005 due to the passing of the Corrections Bill 2005.[2]
ACM attracted strong criticism from the Australian left for alleged abuses of asylum seekers detained in its facilities.[3] This climaxed with a protest in Easter 2002 at the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. This became part of the inspiration for the video game Escape From Woomera.[4]
In 2002 Wackenhut was taken over by Group 4 Falck.
ACM handed over the running of these centres to its parent company Group 4 Falck (now part of G4S) in 2003. It also changed the name of its New Zealand wing to Global Expertise in Outsourcing NZ ltd (GEO) while it was still running ACRP.
Detention centres formerly run by ACM
[edit]- Baxter Immigrant Reception and Processing Centre
- Fulham Correctional Centre
- Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre
- Perth Immigration Detention Centre
- Port Hedland Immigration Detention Centre
- Villawood Immigration Detention Centre
- Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre
References
[edit]- ^ "Corrections Department NZ - Auckland Central Remand Prison". Archived from the original on 15 April 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ "NEW ZEALAND: First to legislate against private prisons". Prison Privatisation Report International (54). Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), University of Greenwich. April 2003. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ Atkinson, Chris (20 March 2002). "Corporate Scumbag: Abusing refugees and prisoners: Australasian Correctional Management". Green Left Weekly. Retrieved 18 February 2014.[unreliable source?]
- ^ Tan, ABC Arts: Teresa (26 October 2018). "Close-up of Escape From Woomera on laptop". ABC News. Retrieved 23 January 2020.