Detention values to be enshrined in law
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, today introduced a Bill to enshrine in law measures that prohibit the detention of children in detention centres and ensure people don't languish in detention for years on end.
The Migration Amendment (Immigration Detention Reform) Bill 2009 will give legislative effect to the Rudd Government's New Directions in Detention policies announced in July last year.
The Bill embeds in law the principle that people are detained based on the risk they pose and held in an immigration detention centre for the shortest practicable time. The Bill explicitly retains mandatory detention of unauthorised boat arrivals and unlawful non-citizens who pose a risk to the community or repeatedly breach the conditions of their visa.
'The Rudd Government announced these policies in July 2008 to address serious deficiencies in Australia's immigration detention system,' Senator Evans said.
'Under the previous government, detention was the default position. Children were locked behind barbed wire and many desperate and vulnerable people who had fled war and persecution were left to languish in detention centres with no resolution in sight.
'The Rudd Labor Government was elected on a platform that included a commitment to implementing more humane detention policies while maintaining strong border protection.
'The Government has maintained extensive air and sea patrols, a system of excision, and the mandatory detention and offshore processing of unauthorised boat arrivals.
'The Migration Amendment (Immigration Detention Reform) Bill 2009 will complement Australia's strong border security measures and ensure Australia's immigration detention system treats people humanely while continuing to protect the Australian community.'
The Rudd Government's new detention policies were unanimously endorsed by the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, which included Liberal MPs Dana Vale, Petro Georgiou, Senator Alan Eggleston, and Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Sharman Stone.
Recommendation 12 of the committee's December report stated:
The committee recommends that, as a priority, the Australian Government introduce amendments to the Migration Act 1958 to enshrine in legislation the reforms to immigration detention policy announced by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has been implementing the reforms announced in July through policy and guideline changes. The Government now wants to embed those policies in law.
'The Rudd Government's approach to managing immigration detainees is one based on a risk management matrix,' Senator Evans said.
'The level of restriction on a person's liberty and the degree of monitoring relates directly to the assessed risk to the Australian community, including any risk of non-compliance with Australia's immigration laws.
'The Government urges the Liberal Party to support the Bill so that children are never again locked up in a detention centre and detainees are treated humanely with the dignity they deserve.'
The detention policies announced in July 2008 that provide the framework for the Bill are:
- Mandatory detention is an essential component of strong border control.
- To
support the integrity of Australia's immigration program, three groups
will be subject to mandatory detention:
a. all unauthorised arrivals, for management of health, identity and security risks to the community
b. unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community, and
c. unlawful non-citizens who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions. - Children, including juvenile foreign fishers and, where possible, their families, will not be detained in an immigration detention centre (IDC).
- 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.
- Detention in immigration detention centres is only to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.
- People in detention will be treated fairly and reasonably within the law.
- Conditions of detention will ensure the inherent dignity of the human person.
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/media/media-releases/2009/ce09058.htm
Last update: 25 June 2009 at 14:10 AEST