About 18 months ago, the lives of the roughly three-dozen women housed at Canberra's jail changed dramatically.

Key points: Women were moved from specially designed cottages to the male cell block of Canberra's jail in 2017

Women were moved from specially designed cottages to the male cell block of Canberra's jail in 2017 A damning report found the decision was at odds with the jail's stated philosophy as a 'human rights-compliant' jail

A damning report found the decision was at odds with the jail's stated philosophy as a 'human rights-compliant' jail The jail's administrators say increased prisoner numbers have left them with no choice

In a massive logistical exercise, hundreds of male prisoners were shuffled around to make way for the women, as they moved into a maximum-security cell block at the heart of the jail.

For years they had been housed in purpose-built cottage-style accommodation, designed to meet the needs of female prisoners undertaking the difficult task of getting by in jail.

The cottages were widely considered best practice for the accommodation of female prisoners within Australia.

But in the reshuffle, the women were forced to adjust from living in groups of six or eight to a cottage, to a block housing between 16 and 18 inmates.

Gone were amenities like separated bathrooms, private courtyards and kitchens.

Some comforts were arranged for their arrival — toilet seats were added to the steel basins within cells.

They fashioned their own shower curtains, that guards allowed them to keep.

Meanwhile, minimum-security male prisoners moved into the cottages they left behind.

Former prisoners told the ABC they appreciated there was little sympathy among the public for the situation of prisoners in jail.

But they also argued something needed to change to reduce the rate of prisoners returning to jail, which was already one of the highest in the country.

Reports of attacks, abuse towards women by male inmates

*Jane, a former prisoner, said there was little separation from male prisoners. ( ABC News )

The Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) has always been unusual in housing men and women in the same facility, but the dedicated women's cottages were built with clear separation in mind.

That separation has been radically reduced under the arrangements put in place in late 2017.

The moves were made because of surging numbers of both female and male prisoners — the women's numbers outstripped the capacity of the cottages, and the number of men was booming too.

Jane*, a former prisoner released from the jail a few months ago, has lived in both the cottages and the cell block.

She said there was little separation at all.

"We see them quite a lot," she said.

"In the women's yard, not so much, we didn't really have much to do with them.

"But now that we're in a block, amongst the boys' blocks, we can see them from our bedrooms, we can communicate through the window, our yards are right next to each other.

"You can communicate just by yelling over the fence."

Separation of male and female prisoners is more than just good practice, experts have argued — in a smaller city like Canberra, many prisoners know each other from the outside world.

There are anecdotal reports of women coming across men who attacked or abused them outside.

Jane said some women were so afraid of being near the men, they refused to leave the block.

"A lot of the girls, they will not attend they gym, or the oval, or education because of the anxiety of having to walk through three hundred men yelling out," she said.

Damning report found women should not be kept in male cells

The issues with the women's accommodation at the jail are well-known to the ACT Government.

ACT inspector of custodial services Neil McAllister released a damning report in February that found the cell blocks were unsuitable for women and the use of it was at odds with the AMC's stated philosophy as a 'human rights-compliant' jail.

Professor Lorana Bartels, a criminologist from the Australian National University, said the cells were designed for men — and unsuitable for women.

She said women tended to have better outcomes in minimum-security environments that bear a resemblance to ordinary life outside jail.

"[The cells are] what you would expect to see in a standard prison — it was not designed with women in mind," she said.

"Originally it did house men, and I believe there is quite a bit of double-bunking happening in cells there at the moment."

Experts argue men and women should not be kept together in jail. ( ABC News: Alkira Reinfrank )

Jane said life in the cells was a shock.

"You're in a tiny little confined space, you and one other person, and it's either lay down or stand-up — that's it," she said.

"The hard part is staff shortages affect the blocks — if one of our officers has to go to an emergency, we get locked in.

"We spend a lot of time locked in."

Jane said prisoners in protected cells, in what is called the 'West Wing', had expressed concerns over their privacy, using the toilet or showering while male guards were around.

Those cells are used not just by protected prisoners, but often by new arrivals to the jail.

She said the doors had windows in them, and the protected rooms did not have the makeshift shower curtains of other rooms.

"A lot of them were afraid to use the toilets, because of the exposed window," she said.

"We have officers doing laps every hour — a lot of the girls didn't know if they'd be right to have a shower or go to the toilet because the window is wide open."

Jail administrators accept problem, but change isn't on the way

A prison guard walks the corridor at the Canberra jail, located in Hume. ( ABC News: Alkira Reinfrank )

The jail's administrators accept the use of the cell block to house women is less than ideal.

ACT Correctional Services executive director Jon Peach said the growing number of prisoners within the jail left them with no better alternative.

He said the cottages were only able to fit 29 prisoners, and they hit 40 female prisoners in mid-2017 — meaning others were being housed in areas scattered around the jail.

"It was a consideration we made as a last resort," he said.

"It was the best opportunity we had for the female detainees within the AMC."

Mr Peach maintained male and female prisoners were clearly separated, but conceded the nature of the jail meant they would be able to see one another.

"While we can take every opportunity we can to limit physical contact — which we do — there will always be the opportunity for people to actually see people," he said.

The ACT Government made clear the women would not be moving back into the cottages, and there were no plans to expand them to accommodate the growing number of female prisoners.

Mr Peach pointed to the recently announced Reintegration Centre, soon to be constructed beside the jail, as potentially providing alternative accommodation for some female prisoners, closer to their release.

It will house up to 80 male and female prisoners.

Professor Bartels said the situation for female prisoners was disappointing from a facility that set out to be human-rights compliant, and nation-leading in its treatment of detainees.

"This disjuncture between what would be best practice — what the ACT has sought to do — and the reality, is very disappointing for all of us who are involved in this space as researchers, advocates or practitioners," she said.

"The huge increase in the prison population has obviously been at the heart of it."

*This name has been changed to protect the person's identity.