Connect with a detainee at the Alexander Maconochie Centre
Learn the ways you can contact a detainee at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Urgent messages
If you need to get an urgent message to a detainee at the AMC, please call 1300 286 583.
Urgent messages are only for emergencies or serious welfare concerns.
Messages that are not urgent will not be accepted or passed on.
Detainees can use email to contact up to 5 approved family members or friends.
There is no limit on the number of email contacts for legal representatives, rehabilitation services, or community organisations.
If you are approved, you can email a detainee and they can email back. To be approved:
- the detainee needs to add you to their list of people they want to email.
- you will need to agree to be emailed by a detainee.
The content of the emails is monitored. Unmonitored email can be used to communicate with legal representatives and oversight agencies.
Phone
Detainees can make phone calls, but you cannot call them directly.
- During the induction period, detainees can call 3 essential phone numbers.
- After moving to a permanent accommodation area, they can add up to 10 phone numbers.
To receive a call:
- The detainee must add your number to their list.
- Phone numbers are checked and approved before use.
- You must agree before your number is added.
Calls to family and friends can last up to 10 minutes and are monitored. Calls to legal representatives and oversight agencies are not monitored.
The address to send mail to a detainee is: Locked Bag 7775, Canberra BC, ACT 2610.
- Mail you send may be opened, searched and read before it is delivered to the detainee.
- The name and address of the sender must be on the back of the envelope.
- Mail between a detainee and their legal representative is protected. It may be opened if not clearly marked, but it will not be read.
You cannot send money or cheques. Read how to get money to a detainee.