The facility is operated by ACT Corrective Services, an agency of the Government of the Australian Capital Territory.

The facility accepts remandees charged under Territory and/or Commonwealth legislation pending legal proceedings; and also detains convicted offenders who are sentenced to full-time imprisonment.

The centre is named in honour of penal reformer Alexander Maconochie, who worked in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and Norfolk Island from 1836 to 1844,[3] and is the Territory's first prison.

[8] The Alexander Maconochie Centre has been the subject of controversy during its planning, construction, and period immediately post opening.

The cessation of transfers of prisoners to NSW in December 2008 added to the pressure on ACT remand facilities and contributed further to their failure to be human rights compliant.In January 2010 it was reported that the average cost of housing an inmate in the Alexander Maconochie Centre is A$504 per day, more than double the amount the New South Wales Government charged the ACT Government for housing inmates before the Centre opened.

Male, female, remand and sentenced detainees from low to high security classifications are accommodated.