Chris Evans announces mandatory detention changes

The Immigration Minister's speech was comprehensive and announced a shift from a blanket mandatory detention policy to a selective mandatory detention platform, welcome news indeed.

But, as confirmed by Evans during an ABC The World Today interview with Alexandra Kirk, the changes can be implemented without legislative change, just through administrative and regulatory review. Labor cannot or will not risk political upheaval by presenting legislation that requires an adjustment of the Migration Act.

Regrettably, while these changes in approach to detention are substantial, and on some level represent even a retreat from Labor's intent with its mandatory detention as introduced in 1992, Labor maintains its "underclass" of unannounced boat arrivals, the changes do not touch the massive 4,600 island excision zone, and while they suggest a mothballing of the Christmas Island detention centre, the keys for this John Howard Asylum Gulag will be available at a moment's notice.

For more comments see also our media releases below.

What's on this page

This page contains the Immigration Minister's full speech and his press release, followed by the media responses that followed thick and fast during the day.

Related:

1 August 2008: Petro Georgiou endorses Labor's detention softening - Project SafeCom's first reaction to Labor's announcement of major detention changes mentioned the notion of "smoke and mirrors", and now that the dust of initial reaction has settled, more in-depth reflections on the changes are what's needed. This page brings together some of these opinions, starting with Petro Georgiou, and then pieces by The Australian's Mike Steketee and Denis Shanahan.

Media releases

• 1 August 2008 - No change to Immigration's $25 mill Christmas Island squander
• 30 July 2008 - The next Peter Qasim will also be detained forever
• 29 July 2008 - Detention changes welcomed, but smoke and mirrors stay in the picture
• 28 July 2008 - Rudd government to be congratulated for immigration policy courage

Professor Kim Rubenstein, Director of the Centre for International and Public Law (CIPL), Mr Andrew Metcalfe, Secretary, Department of Immigration and Citizenship,

At my first meeting with Department officials as Minister for Immigration, I asked who was detained at the immigration detention centre on Nauru and at what stage were their claims for asylum.

I was told there were eight Burmese and 81 Sri Lankans there. Virtually all of this group had already been assessed as refugees but had been left languishing on Nauru.

When I asked why the eight Burmese had not been settled in Australia in accordance with international law there was an embarrassed silence.

Eventually the answer emerged. The Howard government had ordered they stay put. They had been left rotting on Nauru because the Howard government wanted to maintain the myth that third-country settlement was possible.

Sadly, Australia's treatment of asylum seekers had sunk this low.

The treatment of asylum seekers has been controversial in Australian political debate for many years. The length and conditions of their detention has been a particular focus of criticism.

The Rudd Labor Government was elected on a platform that included a commitment to reform and a more humane treatment of those seeking our protection.

We quickly ended the Pacific Solution - closing the offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island. We abolished temporary protection visas - the symbol of the former government's continued punishment of those found to be owed our protection.

We acted quickly to resolve the legacy cases. Cornelia Rau has finally been compensated for her treatment and Robert Jovicic - the man found destitute in Belgrade after being deported on character grounds - has been given a permanent visa to get on with his life in Australia.

The challenge for Labor, having tackled the worst excesses of the Howard immigration legacy, is to introduce a new set of values to immigration detention - values that seek to emphasise a risk-based approach to detention and prompt resolution of cases rather than punishment. The best deterrent is to ensure that people who have no right to remain in Australia are removed expeditiously.

The Labor Party went to the last election with a commitment to maintain a system of mandatory detention and the excision of certain places from the migration zone and both commitments will be honoured.

Control and management of our borders is integral to the nation's security. The extensive patrolling of our borders by Defence, Customs and other law enforcement agencies has been maintained at existing levels.

The Labor Government has reinvigorated efforts to work closely with countries to our north to combat people-smuggling and prevent attempts at dangerous sea journeys by people seeking to enter Australia unlawfully.

We look to extend assistance to those countries to develop their capacity and enhance projects in home and transit countries to assist people displaced by conflict who may be vulnerable targets of people-smugglers and traffickers.

An architecture of excision of offshore islands and non-statutory processing of persons who arrive unauthorised at an excised place will remain.

Those unauthorised arrivals will be processed on Christmas Island.

Labor believes that the excision and offshore processing at Christmas Island will signal that the Australian Government maintains a very strong anti people-smuggling stance. It also reinforces in the minds of our neighbours that strong commitment and the value we place on their cooperation.

Although no decision has been taken on the boundaries of the current excision zone, the Rudd Government believes that a strong border security regime is in the national interest and supports the integrity of our immigration system as well as our humanitarian and refugee programs.

Labor rejects the notion that dehumanising and punishing unauthorised arrivals with long-term detention is an effective or civilised response. Desperate people are not deterred by the threat of harsh detention - they are often fleeing much worse circumstances. The Howard government's punitive policies did much damage to those individuals detained and brought great shame on Australia.

Strong border security and humane and risk-based detention policies are not incompatible. They are both hallmarks of a mature, confident and independent nation.

There has been strong criticism of the processing of protection claims by those persons whose unauthorised arrival was at an excised offshore place.

These criticisms include that there is a lack of transparency, that there is insufficient provision for independent advice and assistance for people in making their claims, that there is no independent review of departmental decisions and there is a lack of independent oversight of the process.

In instituting a new processing regime for those who arrived in an excised place and claim protection, we seek to remedy those deficiencies.

Henceforward, asylum seekers will receive publicly funded advice and assistance, access to independent review of unfavourable decisions and external scrutiny by the Immigration Ombudsman.

These measures will build on strengthened procedural guidance for departmental decision-makers.

In totality, these robust processes will deliver outcomes in which we can be confident and will reassure the world that we are meeting our international commitments.

The integrity of these processes will reinforce our capacity to expedite the return to their home country of people found not to be in need of protection.

The previous government was forced into major changes to its detention practices in 2005 following the Palmer and Comrie reports and heightened political and public pressure.

The changes certainly improved key aspects of the immigration detention system, reducing overall numbers detained by encouraging the department to issue bridging visas to avoid placing people in detention. However, the changes were largely superficial and never fundamentally reformed the system; many of the concerns expressed over the past decade remain.

The basic premise that people who were in the country unlawfully - whether they be unauthorised arrivals or people who have breached their visa conditions - were subject to mandatory immigration detention remained central to the government's policy.

Even though the number of unauthorised boat arrivals had slowed dramatically, long-term detention became the reality for large numbers of detainees; mostly people who had breached their visa conditions and utilised our thorough appeal processes to try to win the right to stay in Australia.

Today I want to announce that Cabinet has endorsed a policy containing seven values that will guide and drive new detention policy and practice into the future.

These values will result in a risk-based approach to the management of immigration clients.

The Government's seven key immigration values are:

1. Mandatory detention is an essential component of strong border control.

2. To support the integrity of Australia's immigration program, three groups will be subject to mandatory detention:

   1. all unauthorised arrivals, for management of health, identity and security risks to the community
   2. unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community and
   3. unlawful non-citizens who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions.

3. Children, including juvenile foreign fishers and, where possible, their families, will not be detained in an immigration detention centre (IDC).

4. Detention that is indefinite or otherwise arbitrary is not acceptable and the length and conditions of detention, including the appropriateness of both the accommodation and the services provided, would be subject to regular review.

5. Detention in immigration detention centres is only to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.

6. People in detention will be treated fairly and reasonably within the law.

7. Conditions of detention will ensure the inherent dignity of the human person.

Labor's reforms will fundamentally change the premise underlying detention policy.

Currently persons who are unlawful may be detained even though the departmental assessment is that they pose no risk to the community. That detention may be prolonged. Currently, detention is too often the first option, not the last.

Under Labor's reforms, persons will be detained only if the need is established. The presumption will be that persons will remain in the community while their immigration status is resolved. If a person is complying with immigration processes and is not a risk to the community then detention in a detention centre cannot be justified. The department will have to justify a decision to detain - not presume detention.

Labor believes that the retention of mandatory detention on arrival of unauthorised arrivals for the purpose of health, identity and security checks is a sound and responsible public policy. Once checks have been successfully completed, continued detention while immigration status is resolved is unwarranted.

The key determinant of the need to detain a person in an immigration detention centre will be risk to the community - a modern risk management approach.

The detention of those who pose unacceptable risks to the community is self-evidently sound public policy. Those with criminal or terrorist links or those whose identity is unknown may be so categorised.

Detention of those who repeatedly refuse to comply with visa conditions can also be justified, particularly immediately prior to their planned involuntary removal.

Detention in these three circumstances is necessary in ensuring the integrity of our immigration system.

The other detention values will ensure that detention policy reflects the values of Australia's democracy.

They honour our international treaty obligations. They give greater voice to our commitment to the rule of law. They acknowledge the centrality of the humane treatment of the individual.

The detention of children behind razor wire and the obvious damage done to them caused outrage in the Australian community. The Howard government could not defend that practice but never abandoned the option of again detaining children.

Labor's detention values explicitly ban the detention of children in immigration detention centres. Children in the company of family members will be accommodated in immigration residential housing (IRH) or community settings.

The expansion of community housing options and the resolution of definitional issues around what constitutes detention under the Migration Act will be pursued as priorities.

The set of values adopted are designed to drive the development of a very different detention model.

The values commit us to detention as a last resort; to detention for the shortest practicable period; to the rejection of indefinite or otherwise arbitrary detention. In other words, the current model of immigration detention is fundamentally overturned.

The Immigration Department has commenced work on an implementation plan to give effect to these values that will be developed in consultation with community interest groups and agencies such as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and the Ombudsman.

Under Labor's reforms, in determining the ongoing detention of a person, the onus of proof will be reversed. A departmental decision-maker will have to justify why a person should be detained against these values that presume that that person should be in the community.

In our view the critical and harsh aspect of the Howard government's mandatory detention policy was not the initial detention phase but the continued and indefinite detention that occurred while lengthy immigration processes and appeals were completed.

Recently, I personally reviewed - in conjunction with the Commonwealth Ombudsman - all of the long-term detention caseload, those who have been in detention for more than two years. In doing the review I sought to apply the values endorsed by Cabinet to the consideration of these protracted and difficult cases.

Of the 72 cases reviewed, 31 were placed on a pathway to visas, 24 will be removed from the country and 17 people were subject to ongoing legal proceedings at the time of the review.

The lessons from this process were instructive.

Firstly, in my judgment, at least 31 of the 72 should not have been in detention.

Secondly, in two years and sometimes much longer, we had failed to successfully remove from the country 24 people who should be removed. The integrity of the system demands prompt removal of people who have no legal right to remain.

Thirdly, extensive and slow legal processes were resulting in people remaining in long-term detention.

Fourthly and most importantly, it was clear that if you asked the question 'is there a need for this person to be in detention?' you got a very different outcome to that provided by the current system.

In future the department will have to justify why a person should be detained. Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed by a senior departmental official every three months to certify that the further detention of the individual is justified.

I will also be seeking to engage the Ombudsman in the review of cases much earlier than his current review after two years of detention. Subject to consultation, a review by his office after a period such as six months would seem more preferable.

In the meantime I have asked the department to review all current detainees and apply the same principles used during my review of the 72 people held in long-term immigration detention.

Our new model will not solve all of the complex and protracted issues that delay resolution of immigration status. There will still be people in detention, but we should see fewer people in detention for less time. The section 501 character cancellation caseload represents a particularly difficult ongoing cohort. However, our new processes should ensure much better outcomes overall.

The cost of long-term detention and the case against the current system are compelling.

The impacts on both the physical and mental health of the detainees are severe. Recent research undertaken by the Centre for Health Service Development at Wollongong University dramatically highlights the deleterious health impacts of long-term detention.

The cost to the taxpayer of detention is massive and the debt recovery virtually non-existent. In 2006-07, it cost some $220 million to operate Australia's immigration detention system.

Enormous damage has been done to our international reputation. On 14 occasions over the last decade, the United Nations Human Rights Committee made adverse findings against Australia in immigration detention cases, finding that the detention in those cases violated the prohibition on arbitrary detention in article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Immigration department staff have been left bruised by the policies they have been asked to implement and the public has lost confidence in the fairness and integrity of our immigration system.

A great deal more work needs to occur to develop a modern and robust system for management of people in immigration detention.

Immigration detention not only needs to be for the shortest duration possible but also in the least restrictive form appropriate to an individual's circumstances. The current detention options, beyond immigration detention centres, are limited and inadequate and the infrastructure is ageing and inappropriate.

The Government is interested in broadening alternative detention strategies, most particularly community-based options. The work of the federal parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration will be critical in examining alternative pathways and taking forward a reform agenda.

The detention infrastructure available to government is seriously inadequate. The closure of the infamous Baxter and Woomera centres, while welcome, has meant the major capacity to house detainees beyond Villawood is the new centre on Christmas Island. Its ability to accommodate 400 people with a surge capacity of 800 makes the Christmas Island facility essential to responding to any major increase in unauthorised arrivals. Designed in 2001, it represents a maximum security environment.

Labor has moved quickly to convert the old Phosphate Hill facilities on Christmas Island to provide for children and families in a community environment and fencing around these facilities has been pulled down.

Small groups of unauthorised arrivals will be accommodated in the Phosphate Hill facilities with the new centre to be brought on line when numbers demand.

Urgent works are commencing at Villawood out of current budget resources prior to a major redevelopment. The HREOC criticisms of existing facilities at Villawood are totally justified. Priority is being given to the Stage 1 section and the management support unit. These facilities make management of the detainees extremely difficult and contribute to their alienation.

The management of detention centres has been at the centre of the concern about treatment of detainees. Labor determined in opposition to return management of detention services to the public sector.

On coming to office in December last year, the tender process for the management of detention centres was well advanced. The Immigration Department has invested $13 million in the tender process to date and tenderers have also expended considerable costs in preparing their bids.

The post-Roche Report (2005) regime has greatly improved oversight of facility management. The new service delivery model for which tenders are sought has a strong focus on human rights, effective programs and activities for people in detention, high delivery service standards and best-practice governance arrangements. The department has also engaged in extensive consultations in developing the new model.

The absence of alternative public service providers would require the extension of the current contract arrangements for a minimum of two years. The cancellation of the tender process would expose the Commonwealth to potential compensation claims from the tenderers.

After weighing up all the issues and costs, and giving detailed and serious consideration to the options available, the Government has determined to finalise the current tender process. The department has extended the existing contracts while the current tender process is completed.

The broader policy issues of public versus private sector management of detention services will be addressed following an evaluation at the end of the term of the contracts concluded as part of the tender process.

Our focus moving forward will be on the implementation of the new detention values and new models for detention. The work of the Joint Standing Committee will help lead that conversation.

In the broader community, interest in these matters has waned as the number of unauthorised boat arrivals has significantly reduced. It is worth noting that of the current detention population of 357 - the lowest numbers since March 1997 - only six are unauthorised boat arrivals. The vast majority of our detention population are people who overstayed or breached their visa conditions.

We will continue to expect that people who come to our country enter and leave in accordance with their visa conditions; we will continue to pursue the prompt return of those found not to be owed protection. As a result we will continue to have a detention population featuring non-citizens who are a risk to the community or who are refusing to comply with immigration processes.

And with massive displacement of persons in the Middle East and Asia, caused by conflict and natural disasters along with well established people-smuggling operations, the potential for large numbers of unauthorised arrivals remains real.

Australia's national interest demands we continue our efforts to prevent people-smuggling to our shores. The key determinate of our success in combating people-smuggling remains the cooperation and capacity of our northern neighbouring countries.

The Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Bob Debus, and I will lead a senior Australian Government delegation to four South East Asian countries next week to build on the work already serving us well.

The policy initiatives I have detailed today are the beginning of a new approach, introducing new and more compassionate values to our detention policies.

Labor believes that this framework will both meet our border security needs and deliver appropriate treatment for those who arrive unauthorised or breach their visa conditions. Those who need protection will get it, those who do not will be expected to promptly leave Australia.

The Rudd Labor Government will reform our immigration detention policies and the treatment of asylum seekers in a way that reflects the compassion and tolerance of the Australian community.

In the future the immigration system will be characterised by strong border security, firm deterrence of unauthorised arrivals, effective and robust immigration processes and respect for the rule of law and the humanity of those seeking migration outcomes.

Thank you.

http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/speeches/2008/ce080729.htm

Labor unveils new risk-based detention policy

Media Release
Senator Chris Evans
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Tuesday 29 July 2008

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, today announced a suite of reforms to Australia's immigration detention system.

Senator Evans said that under Labor's reforms, detention in Immigration Detention Centres will only be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.

The Government will retain mandatory detention to support the integrity of Australia's immigration program.

Senator Evans said the Government's new policy will see the Department of Immigration take a risk-based approach to detention.

'A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved,' Senator Evans said.

'The department will have to justify why a person should be detained. Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed every three months to ensure that the further detention of the individual is justified,' Senator Evans said.

'Children will not be detained in an immigration detention centre.'

Currently, persons who are unlawful may be detained for years even though they pose no health or security risk to the community.

The Minister said that mandatory detention will remain for three groups of people who pose a risk to the community.

Unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community and people who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions will be detained.

Unauthorised boat arrivals at excised places, which include Christmas Island and Ashmore Reef, will still be subject to mandatory detention for health, identity and security checks.

Unauthorised boat arrivals at excised places will continue to be processed on Christmas Island but will now have access to legal assistance and an independent review of unfavourable decisions.

People who have no right to be here and those who are found not to be owed protection under Australia's international obligations will be removed.

http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/2008/ce08072.htm

Labor unveils immigration detention policy

Source: SBS
Tuesday, 29 July, 2008

The Rudd government has announced a dramatic overhaul of immigration policy, significantly reducing the number of refugees who face mandatory detention.

The Government will not completely scrap mandatory detention but Senator Evans said the Government's new policy will see the Department of Immigration take a risk-based approach to detention.

"A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved," Senator Evans said.

"The department will have to justify why a person should be detained. Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed every three months to ensure that the further detention of the individual is justified".

He added children will not be detained in an immigration detention centre.

Mandatory detention not completely scrapped

The minister said the controversial practice of mandatory detention will remain for three groups of people who pose a risk to the community.

These include "unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community, and people who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions will be detained," he said.

The minister added that unauthorised boat arrivals at excised places, which include Christmas Island and Ashmore Reef, will still be subject to mandatory detention for health, identity and security checks.

Legal assistance will be offered to those arriving by boat and they will have access to an independent review of unfavourable decisions.

"Unauthorised boat arrivals at excised places will continue to be processed on Christmas Island but will now have access to legal assistance and an independent review of unfavourable decisions," Minister Evans said.

Deportation

Senator Evans warned the government would still retain its right to deport refugees.

"People who have no right to be here and those who are found not to be owed protection under Australia's international obligations will be removed."

http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/index.php....detention_policy_552969

Sweeping changes to mandatory detention announced

ABC NEWS ONLINE
Posted Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:20am AEST
Updated Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:14pm AEST

The majority of asylum seekers will no longer be detained under major immigration reforms described by Immigration Minister Chris Evans as a more compassionate approach.

The Government will not completely scrap mandatory detention but Senator Evans says the Department of Immigration will have to justify why a person should be detained.

"A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved," Senator Evans said.

Senator Evans says indefinite detention is not acceptable.

"Labor rejects the notion that dehumanising and punishing unauthorised arrivals with long-term detention is an effective or civilised response," he said.

"Desperate people are not deterred by the threat of harsh detention - they are often fleeing much worse circumstances."

Mandatory detention will now apply to three groups that the Minister says pose a risk to the wider community, such as those who have repeatedly breached their visa conditions or those who have security or health risks.

"Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed every three months to ensure that the further detention of the individual is justified," Senator Evans said.

Children will also no longer be detained.

Asylum seekers who arrive at Christmas Island will still also be detained for health and security checks and will also continue to be processed at Christmas Island.

However, they will now have access to legal assistance.

The Department will now also review the cases of all detainees.

Senator Evans believes the policy of mandatory detention has damaged Australia's reputation within the international community.

"A great deal more work needs to occur to develop a modern and robust system for management of people in immigration detention," he said.

Border protection still remains a priority for the Government which will continue work with countries to the north to stop people smuggling.

Refugee advocate Marion Le says she hopes this means most detainees will eventually be able to be released into the community.

"My understanding would be that he's actually looking at releasing all people who are now detained except those who pose a verifiable, I hope, risk to the Australian public or to security," she told ABC Radio's AM.

"A lot of people are there for what we would all think are pretty minor breaches of immigration law that are very complex and that most people can't get across.

"I welcome any move by this Government to overcome the years of callous misdirection and abuse, absolute abuse of human beings by the Howard government during the years of the mandatory detention regime," she said.

Federal Liberal politician Judi Moylan also welcomes the changes, as one of a group of Liberal MPs who opposed their own party's immigration policies while in government.

"Clearly my view is well known on this and I don't believe we should be keeping people in detention centres any more than we absolutely have to. There may be occasions when its necessary but on the face of it I would welcome such a move."

At present, 385 people are held in immigration detention. Of those, 64 are seeking asylum or waiting for a result from an application for a protection visa.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/29/2317303.htm

Immigration overhaul

Sky News
Updated: 09:50, Tuesday July 29, 2008

The Rudd government has announced a dramatic overhaul of immigration policy, significantly reducing the number of refugees who face mandatory detention.

'A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved,' Immigration Minster Chris Evans said in a statement on Tuesday.

The controversial practice of mandatory detention will apply only to those asylum seekers arriving by boat or those considered a risk to national security or other people's health.

Those arriving by boat will be held in detention while undergoing health, identity and security checks.

Legal assistance will be offered to those arriving by boat and they will have access to an independent review of unfavourable decisions.

'The department will have to justify why a person should be detained,' Senator Evans said.

'Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed every three months to ensure that the further detention of the individual is justified.

'Children will not be detained in an immigration detention centre.'

Senator Evans warned the government would still retain its right to deport refugees.

'People who have no right to be here and those who are found not to be owed protection under Australia's international obligations will be removed.'

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/article.aspx?id=253556

Asylum-seekers allowed into community

July 29, 2008 09:52am
news.com.au

MANDATORY detention for asylum-seekers has been eased under changes to immigration policy announced by the Government today.

"A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved," Immigration Minster Chris Evans said.

Mandatory detention would apply only to those arriving by boat for health, identity and security checks, or those considered a risk to national security or health.

Legal assistance would be offered to those arriving by boat and they could have an independent review of unfavourable decisions.

Children would also not be detained in immigration detention centres.

"The department will have to justify why a person should be detained," Senator Evans said.

"Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed every three months to ensure that the further detention of the individual is justified.

Senator Evans said the Government would still retain its right to deport people.

"People who have no right to be here and those who are found not to be owed protection under Australia's international obligations will be removed."

Canberra would retain a tough border policy through a detention centre on remote Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia, to allow health, identity and security checks, Senator Evans said.

Under the previous government's Pacific Solution, more than 1300 asylum seekers were processed on Nauru, while others were sent to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea in return for millions of dollars in aid to PNG from Australia's government.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International said the latest changes would see the release of almost 380 asylum seekers currently in Australian detention.

"Obviously what we're hearing is very good. Australia is the only country that has mandatorily detained anybody who has arrived without a document, and up until 2005 that included families with children," spokesman Graham Thom said.

"It's been an absolute sledgehammer approach," he said.

- With Reuters

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24094733-421,00.html

Immigration detainees 'to go free'

The Hobart Mercury
Article from: The Australian
By Lex Hall and Paul Maley
July 29, 2008 08:26am

MOST of the 380 people detained in immigration centres in Australia could be released into the community within a year under Rudd government plans to significantly water down the nation's hardline mandatory detention regime.

Under plans expected to be unveiled today by Immigration Minister Chris Evans, the mandatory detention policy will be maintained but eased, with a new emphasis on detaining only those who pose a risk to the community.

The new policy will avoid holding asylum-seekers for long periods and offer legal assistance to those denied visas. Asylum-seekers who arrive outside the nation's migration zone and are detained at centres such as Christmas Island and refused the right to apply for a visa are expected to gain access to an external review of their status.

Compensation payments made to people unlawfully detained may also be reduced over time.

Refugee support groups, many of which had been briefed on the changes, last night welcomed the shift as a significant reform that over time would make mandatory detention the exception rather than the rule.

"It will go from being a first resort to a last resort," one refugee advocate said last night.

Speaking on ABC's Lateline program last night, Amnesty International's Graham Thom described the plans as "very fundamental change because ... for the last 15 years Australia has reserved the right to mandatorily detain somebody simply based on their lack of a visa and wanting to keep them in detention as long as possible".

Since September 1992, all people arriving in Australia without proper travel documents - including those seeking asylum - have been immediately detained until they are granted either a visa or deported.

Many of the nation's bigger detention centres, such as Baxter and Woomera in South Australia, have been closed since the height of the controversy over mandatory detention in 2001.

Centres on Nauru and Manus Island, which formed the basis of the Howard government's "Pacific Solution", are also long gone.

But there are still about 380 people held in immigration detention in Australia, mostly single men.

Refugee support groups say that the reforms, which allow for the detention of only those people considered a risk to the community, will allow the vast majority to be released in the coming year.

"We'll certainly be hoping that most of the people currently held in detention will be released," Dr Thom said.

"The vast majority are either asylum-seekers or visa overstayers."

Sources last night denied reports that under the changes, the $400 million detention centre built by the Howard government on Christmas Island would be closed.

The facility costs between $20 million and $30 million a year to maintain.

Senator Evans will today be unveiling the changes in an address entitled "New directions in detention".

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,24094218-922,00.html

End to mandatory detention

The Age
Sarah Smiles
July 29, 2008

HUNDREDS of detainees could be released into the community under radical changes to Australia's mandatory detention policy to be announced today.

Under the changes, only people who pose a risk to the community will be detained, The Age understands. Others will be released into the community while their cases are assessed.

This is a significant departure from the laws introduced by the Keating government, and continued under John Howard, under which all unauthorised arrivals were detained.

The changes will be outlined in a speech this morning by Immigration Minister Chris Evans.

At present there are approximately 380 people - mainly single men - detained in centres including Villawood in Sydney and Maribyrnong in Melbourne.

Under the Howard government, mandatory detention was expanded to include offshore centres on Nauru and Manus Island off Papua New Guinea - the so-called Pacific Solution - as well as the construction of a $350 million facility on Christmas Island. Under this strict regime, the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat slowed to a trickle.

Since coming to power, Labor has shut down Nauru and Manus Island. The policy shift also raises questions about the future use of the Christmas Island facility, which costs an estimated $32 million a year to run.

The facility, criticised by Labor as a white elephant, is currently empty.

The softening of the approach to mandatory detention will be welcomed by refugee and human rights advocates, who have criticised the psychological impact of indefinite detention on asylum seekers and their families. But it could expose the Government to accusations of going soft on border security.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/end-to-mandatory-detention-20080729-3me8.html

Lawyer welcomes softer detention laws

news.com.au
By Melissa Jenkins
July 29, 2008 08:24am
Article from: AAP

SOFTENING mandatory detention for asylum seekers will go a long way to ensuring cases like that of Vivian Solon and Cornelia Rau never happen again, their lawyer says.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans is expected to announce today that mandatory detention will now only apply to people who pose a risk to the community.

Lawyer George Newhouse has applauded the move, saying it would mark the end of a sad immigration policy.

"It was a disgraceful period of immigration policy which was calculated to destroy people's lives," he said.

"It really was quite an abusive system. People's lives were destroyed under this immigration regime."

Mr Newhouse represented Australian resident Ms Rau, who was unlawfully detained by immigration officials, and citizen Vivian Solon, who was unlawfully deported.

The Government's proposed changes would almost eliminate the possibility of such cases happening again, he said.

Mr Newhouse said he had kept in regular contact with Ms Solon.

"The damage that was caused to Vivian will stay with her for the rest of her life but she is an essentially positive woman and she looks forward to the future and tries not to look back at the pain," he said.

Mr Evans is expected to announce the immigration policy changes during a speech - New Directions in Detention: Restoring Integrity to Australia's Immigration System - at the Australian National University this morning.

The Government will stop detaining asylum seekers for long periods of time and offer legal assistance to those denied a visa under the changes.

Mr Evans will also announce the temporary closure of the $400 million detention centre built by the previous Howard government on Christmas Island.

About 380 people, mostly single men, are in immigration detention in Australia.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24094465-29277,00.html

Refugee groups welcome detention changes

AAP/Lisa Capelli
WA Today
July 29, 2008 - 1:59PM

Refugee lobby groups have welcomed policy changes to Australia's "appalling" and "inhumane" mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers and people caught overstaying their visas will be detained while their cases are finalised only if they pose a risk to the community under a new system unveiled by Immigration Minister Chris Evans today.

Boat people will continue to be detained on Christmas Island but with the aim of resolving their cases in the shortest time frame possible.

Kate Gauthier, national coordinator of Just Australia, a national refugee policy lobby group, welcomed the policy changes.

"The old approach to asylum seeker detention was an appalling and failed policy," Ms Gauthier said.

"It's inhumane, has been proven to create mental illness, is a breach of international law and a huge waste of taxpayer funds."

Christmas Island detention centre would be closed unless there were large numbers of arrivals, with most people housed in open accommodation centres, Ms Gauthier said.

Just Australia remained opposed to the use of remote detention because of difficulties in visits by lawyers and family members and the high costs of service delivery.

The Australian Greens said much work was still needed to restore Australia's commitment to refugees under international obligations after a year of "callous" abuse.

The Greens were concerned about the Government's commitment to keep the detention centre on Christmas Island, immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"The policy of mandatory detention as a whole must go."

The long-term effects and "scarring" caused by treatment in detention still needed to be addressed.

"We carry a responsibility to assist people affected by their time spent locked up in the system, even if they are no longer detained."

Political activist group GetUp, which has been campaigning for an end to mandatory detention, called for firm legislation to set the new policy in stone.

"This Government must ensure that no change of heart or government can turn this policy around," executive director Brett Solomon said.

"Only by amending the Migration Act itself will the presumption of detention be reversed."

Refugee lawyer David Mann said the changes would make a profound difference.

It represented a fundamental change in detention policy in Australia, he said.

"The change is really a fundamental one from mandatory and definite detention of people without a valid visa as the first option ... to really the very opposite," Mr Mann told ABC Radio.

"And that is the presumption being that as long as they don't pose any real risk to the community, that detention will be a last resort.

"This is a very substantial step forward."

Mr Mann, who practises at the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, also welcomed the decision that those who are placed in mandatory detention would have their cases reviewed every three months.

"The system previously represented a fundamental lack of transparency, a fundamental lack of scrutiny, and with very little proper review," he said.

"This is again a major step forward in ensuring that people, as a matter of course, are not detained indefinitely and languish there to be subject to certain harm."

The Refugee Action Coalition said it remained concerned there was no proposal for the changes to be enshrined in law.

"Even the detention of children will not be banned by law," spokesman Ian Rintoul said.

"Immigration housing such as that at Villawood is still detention."

Detention decisions would still be made by the immigration department and not be subject to judicial review.

"The deep-seated cultural problems in the immigration department, identified by the Palmer inquiry, were still obvious in the lead-up to World Youth Day, when immigration officers turned away potential asylum seekers and incarcerated two other African asylum seekers in Villawood."

The adversarial determination process of the Refugee Review Tribunal needed to be replaced, Mr Rintoul said.

"There are thousands of refugees who, like Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon, have been damaged by mandatory detention and require more help and compensation.

"Refugees still suffer under ridiculous detention debts."

Amnesty International, while welcoming the changes as a major step forward, said it was concerned about the Government's emphasis on strong border security and firm deterrence of unauthorised arrivals.

Australia would not fulfil its international obligations if it retained a policy of deterring people legitimately fleeing persecution, it said.

"We call for an end to the policy of excising offshore territories, for the closure of Christmas Island detention centre, and for all asylum seekers to be treated equally in keeping with our international obligations," campaign coordinator Graham Thom said.

AAP

http://www.watoday.com.au/...welcome-detention-changes-20080729-3mp5.html

Media Release: Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul

IMMIGRATION MINISTER'S CHANGES DON'T GO FAR ENOUGH

REFUGEE GROUPS CALL FOR SUMMIT TO ADDRESS THE OUTSTANDING ISSUES

"We are puzzled that the Minister seems to have pre-empted his Parliamentary Enquiry, but the changes to immigration detention announced today by the Minister for Immigration are a welcome move in the right direction", said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

"In particular that there will now be a prejudice in favour of community processing holds the hope that we are seeing the beginning of the end of the worst abuses of mandatory detention.

"However we remain concerned that there is no proposal for the announced changes to be enshrined in law. Even the detention of children will not be banned by law. Immigration housing such as that at Villawood is still detention.

"Mandatory detention still remains in place. Detention decisions will still be made by the Immigration Department and not be subject to judicial review. Prior to the election, Labor said that it would limit detention to 90 days. If the Minister is serious about reversing the horrors of the Howard years, he will change the law.

"The deep-seated cultural problems in the Immigration Department identified by the Palmer Inquiry were still obvious in the lead up to World Youth Day, when Immigration officers turned away potential asylum seekers and incarcerated two other African asylum seekers in Villawood.

"Retaining Christmas Island for off-shore processing will still exclude asylum seekers from the Australian refugee system. Replacing the Pacific Solution with a slightly better Indian Ocean solution is not good enough. Christmas Island should close permanently and all excised Australian territory returned to the jurisdiction of the Migration Act.

"There remains much unfinished business to establish a humanitarian refugee policy. The adversarial determination process of Refugee Review Tribunal needs to be replaced. There are thousands of refugees, who like Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon, have been damaged by mandatory detention and require more help and compensation. Refugees still suffer under ridiculous detention debts. Bridging visa holders are still denied work rights. There are still asylum seekers in Indonesia towed back by the Australian navy after the Tampa and the Afghans and other wrongfully deported from Nauru.

"The Minister seems to realize that there are still fundamental problems remain with the refugee process. Rather than piece-meal decisions, we are calling on the Minister to convene a summit of all the refugee advocacy groups, and refugees themselves so the unfinished business can be properly dealt with."

For more information contact: Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713

Greens welcome immigration changes but say mandatory detention must go

Greens Media
Sen Sarah Hanson-Young
Senator for South Australia
Tuesday 29 July 2008

The Australian Greens have welcomed the Federal Government's changes to its policy of mandatory detention, announced by Immigration Minister Chris Evans this morning.

Greens spokesperson for immigration Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said, "After years of callous treatment and abuse there is much work to be done to restore Australia's commitment to refugees under international obligations.

"We welcome the move to a more humane and compassionate approach to the processing of these people.

"However, the Greens are concerned that Minister Evans' announcement has reinforced the Government's commitment to keep the detention centre on Christmas Island.

"Also, the long-term effects and scarring caused by treatment in detention, particularly of children, still need to be addressed. We carry a responsibility to assist people affected by their time spent locked up in the system, even if they are no longer detained," she said.

Senator Hanson-Young said mandatory detention was crafted by the Keating Labor Government, and misuse of the system and mistreatment of the people within it has continued for the last 16 years.

"It is good to see that Labor have finally understood the gross failings of the Keating-Howard mandatory detention regime, and are now differentiating their policy from that of the Liberal Government that came before it.

"However, the policy of mandatory detention as a whole must go. It is unfortunate that Labor still remain committed to it.

Senator Hanson-Young said she will be an active participant in the Government's inquiry into the issue.

"We will be looking very closely at the changes put forward by the Minister, ensuring that there is adequate transparency in the new immigration processes, and that checks and balances are applied to these crucial matters of human rights and justice," she said.

For further information please call Gemma Clark on 0427 604 760

Detention policy change

Sky News
Updated: 16:21, Tuesday July 29, 2008

The Rudd government has ripped up Australia's immigration detention policy but boat people will continue to be processed offshore.

Under a new system unveiled by Immigration Minister Chris Evans on Tuesday, asylum seekers and people caught overstaying their visas will be detained only if they pose a risk to the community.

They will remain in the community until their cases are finalised.

Boat people will continue to be detained on Christmas Island but with the aim of resolving their cases in the shortest time possible.

They will be given access to legal representation and the opportunity to appeal immigration department decisions to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Children and their families will not be held in detention centres and will be housed in community facilities.

'This isn't about a mass opening of the gates, this is about a more humane treatment of asylum seekers, a more humane detention policy,' Senator Evans told reporters.

'We think this will allow us to maintain strong border security but also treat people with human dignity.'

The previous government's emphasis was on punishment, Senator Evans said.

'They thought that by punishing people, that would act as a deterrent. We have always argued that's not right.'

Under the new system the immigration department will have to justify every three months why a person is being detained.

The immigration ombudsman will review cases if asylum seekers remain in detention for longer than six months.

The government's new immigration policy will be underpinned by seven key values, which will be applied to both the processing of people living in the community and those detained on Christmas Island.

The values include the use of mandatory detention as a last resort, and fair and humane treatment of detainees.

Senator Evans said he expected to receive within weeks a departmental review of the cases of about 380 people presently in detention and the new policy will apply when deciding their fate.

Releasing detainees who have had their visas cancelled on character grounds is not being considered.

'We're talking about people who have been determined by the courts of Australia to be serious criminals and they're in immigration detention pending their removal from Australia,' he said.

'They need to be removed from Australia and the moment I can remove them they will be removed.'

Senator Evans said he could not guarantee there would never be a repeat of cases similar to those of Australian citizens Cornelia Rau, who was unlawfully detained by immigration officials, and Vivian Solon, who was unlawfully deported.

'The reality is that any time you have people in detention there are risks ... so I'm not going to give any guarantees,' he said.

'But Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon's treatment was, I think, a low point in Australian public administration.

'Both cases were tragic.'

The health impacts of immigration detention were worse than those prisoners experienced, Senator Evans said.

Very few long-term detainees voluntarily chose to return home and community care was a much more effective option.

'The reality of long-term detention is that people get hardened in their attitude, they become institutionalised and they very rarely ... make a decision to voluntarily return,' he said.

'So not only is it harsh on the individual, it doesn't work.'

Senator Evans said since assuming the immigration portfolio last year he had reviewed the cases of 72 detainees who had been held for more than two years. Of those, 31 should not have been detained.

After the review 31 people were placed on visa pathways, 24 will be removed from Australia and 17 people will be the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.

It cost taxpayers $220 million to operate Australia's immigration detention system in 2006-07.

Advocacy groups have welcomed the change, however the Refugee Action Coalition said it remained concerned there was no proposal for the changes to be enshrined in law.

'Even the detention of children will not be banned by law,' spokesman Ian Rintoul said.

'Immigration housing such as that at Villawood is still detention.'

Detention decisions would still be made by the immigration department and not be subject to judicial review.

'The deep-seated cultural problems in the immigration department, identified by the Palmer inquiry, were still obvious in the lead-up to World Youth Day, when immigration officers turned away potential asylum seekers and incarcerated two other African asylum seekers in Villawood.'

The adversarial determination process of the Refugee Review Tribunal needed to be replaced, Mr Rintoul said.

'

There are thousands of refugees who, like Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon, have been damaged by mandatory detention and require more help and compensation.

'Refugees still suffer under ridiculous detention debts.'

Amnesty International, while welcoming the changes as a major step forward, says it is concerned about the government's emphasis on strong border security and firm deterrence of unauthorised arrivals.

Australia would not fulfill its international obligations if it retained a policy of deterring people legitimately fleeing persecution, it said.

'We call for an end to the policy of excising offshore territories, for the closure of Christmas Island detention centre, and for all asylum seekers to be treated equally in keeping with our international obligations,' campaign coordinator Graham Thom said.

http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=253663

Detention centres to be last resort under new immigration policy

The Australian
Samantha Maiden, Online political editor
July 29, 2008

DETENTION centres will be used as a last resort under an overhaul of immigration policy that will judge people on the basis of security risk.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans will outline significant reforms to the system of mandatory detention today, extending the Labor Government's original pledge to remove all children from detention.

Senator Evans is expected to announce the immigration policy changes during an address - New Directions in Detention: Restoring Integrity to Australia's Immigration System - at the Australian National University this morning.

He is expected to announce the temporary closure of the $400 million detention centre built by the previous Howard government on Christmas Island.

Senator Evans said today that under Labor's new policy detention, Immigration Detention Centres will only be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.

"A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved," Senator Evans said.

"The department will have to justify why a person should be detained. Once in detention a detainee's case will be reviewed every three months to ensure that the further detention of the individual is justified.

"Children will not be detained in an immigration detention centre."

Under current laws, Senator Evans said persons who are unlawful might be detained for years even though they pose no health or security risk to the community.

While mandatory detention will remain for three groups of people who pose a risk to the community the majority of asylum seekers will no longer be kept in detention centres.

"Unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community and people who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions will be detained," he said.

"Unauthorised boat arrivals at excised places, which include Christmas Island and Ashmore Reef, will still be subject to mandatory detention for health, identity and security checks.

"Unauthorised boat arrivals at excised places will continue to be processed on Christmas Island but will now have access to legal assistance and an independent review of unfavourable decisions."

Senator Evans said people who have no right to be in Australia under immigration laws and those who are found not to be owed protection under Australia's international obligations would be removed.

Lawyers for Vivian Solon and Cornelia Rau, who were unlawfully deported and detained and by the Howard government, today welcomed the policy shift.

Lawyer George Newhouse has applauded the move, saying it would mark the end of a sad immigration policy.

"It was a disgraceful period of immigration policy which was calculated to destroy people's lives," he said.

"It really was quite an abusive system. People's lives were destroyed under this immigration regime.

"The damage that was caused to Vivian will stay with her for the rest of her life but she is an essentially positive woman and she looks forward to the future and tries not to look back at the pain," he said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24094565-601,00.html