Background Previous monitoring visits The Commission has conducted inspections of immigration detention facilities in Australia since the mid-1990s. This has included periodic monitoring of detention facilities across the country and three major national inquiries into immigration detention. The purpose of the Commission’s detention monitoring inspections is to ensure that Australia’s immigration detention system is compliant with our obligations under international human rights law. For many years, the Commission has expressed a range of concerns about aspects of the detention system that may lead to breaches of international human rights law. These include: the policy of mandatory immigration detention, which does not allow for adequate consideration of individual circumstances and can result in cases of arbitrary detention under international law the indefinite and, at times, prolonged nature of immigration detention and the lack of a legislative time limit on detention the detention of children, which has led to breaches of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) the indefinite detention of people who have received adverse security or character assessments, including in circumstances where they have not been convicted of a crime under Australian law conditions of detention, in some cases have not met international standards the impacts of immigration detention on mental health the need for increased use of alternatives to immigration detention. Further information about these concerns can be found in the Commission publication, Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Human Rights: Snapshot Report. The Commission can also investigate and, where appropriate, try to resolve through conciliation, complaints it receives from people in immigration detention regarding alleged breaches of human rights. Inspection methodology The Commission inspected the CIIDC from 23 to 25 August 2017. The inspection was conducted by three Commission staff. Dr Penny Abbott, an academic general practitioner, joined the inspection team as an independent consultant. During the inspection, the Commission team met with representatives from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (now Home Affairs), ABF, Serco and International Health and Medical Services (IHMS); conducted an inspection of the physical conditions of detention; and held individual private interviews with 50 people detained at the CIIDC. The Commission also held a number of informal group discussions with people detained at the facility.
Background Previous monitoring visits The Commission has conducted inspections of immigration detention facilities in Australia since the mid-1990s. This has included periodic monitoring of detention facilities across the country and three major national inquiries into immigration detention. The purpose of the Commission’s detention monitoring inspections is to ensure that Australia’s immigration detention system is compliant with our obligations under international human rights law. For many years, the Commission has expressed a range of concerns about aspects of the detention system that may lead to breaches of international human rights law. These include: the policy of mandatory immigration detention, which does not allow for adequate consideration of individual circumstances and can result in cases of arbitrary detention under international law the indefinite and, at times, prolonged nature of immigration detention and the lack of a legislative time limit on detention the detention of children, which has led to breaches of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) the indefinite detention of people who have received adverse security or character assessments, including in circumstances where they have not been convicted of a crime under Australian law conditions of detention, in some cases have not met international standards the impacts of immigration detention on mental health the need for increased use of alternatives to immigration detention. Further information about these concerns can be found in the Commission publication, Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Human Rights: Snapshot Report. The Commission can also investigate and, where appropriate, try to resolve through conciliation, complaints it receives from people in immigration detention regarding alleged breaches of human rights. Inspection methodology The Commission inspected the CIIDC from 23 to 25 August 2017. The inspection was conducted by three Commission staff. Dr Penny Abbott, an academic general practitioner, joined the inspection team as an independent consultant. During the inspection, the Commission team met with representatives from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (now Home Affairs), ABF, Serco and International Health and Medical Services (IHMS); conducted an inspection of the physical conditions of detention; and held individual private interviews with 50 people detained at the CIIDC. The Commission also held a number of informal group discussions with people detained at the facility.
AHRC_2018_CIIDCinspection_report.docx