Prison officers at Canberra's main jail have had a win, with the ACT Government agreeing it will only introduce a needle and syringe program (NSP) at the prison if it has the majority support of staff.

For years, the ACT Government has been trying to introduce a needle exchange program at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) in Hume.

But prison officers are firmly opposed to it.

As a result, enterprise bargaining negotiations between the ACT Government and prison staff were delayed, over of a clause in the guards' current agreement relating to the NSP.

Today Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury signed a Deed of Agreement with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), vowing to work with prison staff to design an NSP model.

"The bottom line is we could never force it [an NSP] on the staff. If we sought to force it on the staff it never would have worked," Mr Rattenbury said.

The Deed of Agreement sets out the process for engaging prison staff in the development of an NSP model.

It includes a joint working group to develop the model, a ballot process to determine support for any proposed model and a commitment not to implement a model that is unable to gain majority support from voting staff.

ACT Opposition says needle plan was flawed

The Canberra Liberals accused the ACT Government of backing down on the plan after stiff opposition.

Liberal MLA Andrew Wall said he agreed with prison officers and was opposed to needles going into the jail.

"I think that this policy should have been dropped a long time ago," he said.

"What we have today is a step down but that doesn't mean that the policy is yet dead."

However the head of Hepatitis ACT was surprised the Government was allowing prison officers to veto the needle exchange program.

John Didlick said the design and implementation of the much-needed health intervention inside jails was best left to health experts.

"If you're asking the workforce to develop your model and then to consider its merits and vote on its implementation, you would want your workforce to know something about it," he said.

"But very few ACT corrections officers are provided with current and reliable information (about NSPs) and in those circumstances what prevails is doubt, misinformation and propaganda."

Guards may receive $6,000 in back pay

A vote for a proposed model is expected to take place in 12 months time.

But CPSU national president Alastair Waters said as it stood, prison officers were still against an NSP.

"I think the overwhelming view of corrections officers is that a needle exchange program is not in the interest of the health of the prisoners or in the good order of the jail," Mr Waters said.

The signing of the deed today meant that the controversial clause referring to the NSP could now be removed from the prison guards' EBA.

Mr Waters said the enterprise agreement, which dates back to 2013, can now be voted on.

If passed, the AMC's 190 prison guards can each expect to receive about $6,000 in back pay.