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A Last Resort? - SUMMARY GUIDE. A Summary of the important issues, findings and recommendations of the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

A last resort?

National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

The facts about immigration detention in Australia

What is immigration detention?

Since 1992, Australia's migration law has made it mandatory for any person in Australia without a valid visa to be detained until they are issued with a visa or removed from Australia. This law applies equally to adults and children.

Some children are placed in immigration detention because they enter Australia without a visa (unauthorised arrivals). Other children are in immigration detention because they overstay or break the conditions of their visa.

During the period of the Inquiry, the majority of children in detention were unauthorised boat arrivals. Over this period, other children made up no more than 5% of the total number of child detainees.

Most unauthorised arrivals seek refugee protection when they arrive - in other words, they are asylum seekers. However, although almost all children in detention are asylum seekers, not all child asylum seekers are in detention. Children who come to Australia on a tourist visa or student visa and then claim asylum after they arrive (authorised arrivals) usually live in the community on a bridging visa while their refugee status is being determined.

How many children have been in immigration detention?

A total of 976 children were in immigration detention in 1999-2000; 1,923 children in 2000-2001; 1,696 children in 2001-2002 and 703 children in 2002-2003. Most of these children arrived by boat.

The total number of unauthorised arrival children who applied for refugee protection visas between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003 was 2,184. These figures do not include children transferred to and detained on Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea).

Sign outside Woomera indicating ACM and the Department, June 2002

Sign outside Woomera indicating ACM and the Department, June 2002

The highest number of children in detention at any one time between 1 January 1999 and 1 January 2004 was 842 (on 1 September 2001). Of this number, 456 were at the Woomera detention centre.

When the Inquiry was announced in late November 2001, there were over 700 children in immigration detention. By the time of the Inquiry's public hearing with the Department a year later, the number had reduced by 80% to 139. The number of children in detention has not decreased at the same rate since that time.

There were still 111 children in immigration detention in Australia on 26 December 2003.

Where have the children been held?

Children arriving in Australian territory (including Australian territorial waters) without a visa were detained in any one of the following detention facilities over the period of the Inquiry:

Residential housing projects were opened in Port Hedland and Port Augusta (near Baxter) after the period of the Inquiry.

Image: Locations of detention centres in and around Australia

Locations of detention centres in and around Australia

After September 2001, and the introduction of the 'Pacific Solution', children who arrived on Christmas Island, the Ashmore Islands or the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, or who were intercepted at sea by Australian authorities, were transferred to detention facilities in Nauru or Manus Island (Papua New Guinea).

Since late January 2002, most asylum seeker children travelling without a parent or guardian (unaccompanied minors), were transferred from immigration detention centres to 'alternative places of detention', such as foster homes in the community.

The following table provides an overview of where children were held in detention between July 1999 and July 2003. The figures show that most children in detention were held in remote centres at Curtin, Port Hedland and Woomera.

Detention Centre
1.7.99
1.1.00
1.7.00
1.1.01
1.7.01
1.1.02
1.7.02
1.1.03
1.7.03
Curtin
–
147
133
167
153
63
33
–
–
Port Hedland
27
91
142
64
128
85
11
20
14
Woomera
–
118
215
16
304
281
45
11
–
Woomera
Housing Project
–
–
–
–
–
7
0
6
10
Villawood
19
32
32
28
37
16
14
32
29
Maribyrnong
11
9
4
11
7
3
10
3
5
Perth
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
Christmas Island
–
–
–
–
–
79
10
5
–
Cocos K. Islands
–
–
–
–
–
5
–
–
–
Baxter
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
38
41
Other (hospitals, etc.)
1
2
16
1
2
4
14
17
11
Total number
of children
in detention
58
399
542
287
631
543
138
132
111

Note: A result of ‘0’ means no children were held at that time. A result of ‘–’ means that facility was not operating at that time.

How long have children been held in detention?

Since 1999, children have been detained for increasingly longer periods of time. By the beginning of 2003, the average detention period for a child in immigration detention was one year, three months and 17 days. As at 26 December 2003, the average length of detention had increased to one year, eight months and 11 days.

The longest a child has ever been in immigration detention is five years, five months and 20 days. This child and his mother were released from Port Hedland detention centre on 12 May 2000, after eventually being assessed as refugees.

Length of detention of children: 1999-2003

Periods children detained
0-6 wks
1.5-3 mths

3-6 mths
6-12 mths
1-2 yrs
2-3 yrs
More than 3 yrs
Total children detained
1 Jan 99
26
23
4
4
0
1
1
59
1 Apr 99
19
9
16
6
2
1
1
54
1 July 99
19
5
15
17
0
1
1
58
1 Oct 99
37
29
6
20
4
0
2
98
1 Jan 00
220
128
27
8
14
0
2
399
1 Apr 00
72
110
299
22
18
0
2
523
1 July 00
51
51
169
252
19
0
0
542
1 Oct 00
94
9
34
138
14
4
0
293
1 Jan 01
122
48
55
24
33
5
0
287
1 Apr 01
212
107
87
47
30
3
0
486
1 July 01
174
170
184
71
29
3
0
631
1 Oct 01
193
242
153
108
44
0
0
740
1 Jan 02
5
87
288
104
52
7
0
543
1 Apr 02
8
4
13
98
69
10
0
202
1 July 02
9
2
2
33
85
7
0
138
1 Oct 02
14
6
3
13
79
19
0
134
1 Jan 03
14
13
6
4
56
36
3
132
1 Apr 03
17
3
14
9
33
49
0
125
1 July 03
8
2
11
10
10
69
1
111
1 Oct 03
12
24
3
13
7
54
8
121

How many children arrived in Australia without their parents?

Most children arriving in Australia without a visa come with one or both parents. However, there are a significant number of children who arrive unaccompanied. Until January 2002, when most unaccompanied children were transferred to foster homes, unaccompanied children were detained in the same manner as all other unauthorised arrivals.

At the start of 2000 there was a large rise in the number of unaccompanied children detained in Australia. On 1 July 1999 there were just two unaccompanied children, who had been detained for a short time. Six months later, that figure had grown to 41.

By 1 July 2000 there were 49 unaccompanied children in detention, 37 of whom had been detained for longer than three months. By 1 July 2001, a year later, there were 121 unaccompanied children in detention, 22 of whom had been detained for over three months. Their number grew to 143 during that month. On 1 January 2002, there were only 40 unaccompanied children in detention but 90% of them had been detained for more than three months.

What is the background of the children in detention?

There were more boys than girls held in immigration detention. However, the percentage of girls has increased since 1999. Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003, 37% of asylum seeker children in detention were girls. The majority of children in detention were under 12 years of age. The following table shows the age of children in immigration detention as at 30 June for each year from 1999 to 2003.

Age of children as at
30 June each year
0–4 years
5–11 years
12–17 years
30 June 1999
23
15
23
30 June 2000
164
208
162
30 June 2001
144
210
278
30 June 2002
33
54
53
30 June 2003
32
29
52

Some infants (0-4 years) spent substantial portions of their lives in immigration detention. On 30 June 2000 there were 164 infants in detention. Five of them had spent more than 18 months in detention. On 30 June 2001 there were 144 infants in detention. Two of these children had spent more than two and a half years in detention - more than half of their lives.

Where do children in detention come from?

Most of the children in detention over the Inquiry period were from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, the Palestinian Territories and Sri Lanka.

How is a person's refugee status decided?

Once asylum seeker children and their families in detention make an application for a protection visa, the Department begins an assessment of their cases. Children who arrive with their family are generally included in the application made by their parents and the claim for asylum is based on the strength of the father's or mother's claim. Unaccompanied children, because they are not part of a family unit, need to make an application for asylum in their own right.

In determining whether a person is a refugee, the Department uses the definition of a refugee as set out in the United Nations Refugee Convention.

All applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis. If the application is successful, the family and the child are granted a temporary protection visa. If an application is refused, a review of the decision can be sought from the Refugee Review Tribunal.

Applicants are also entitled to limited judicial review of a visa decision. This process does not review the merits of a decision but it ensures that certain standards have been followed during the determination of an application.

How many children in immigration detention were found to be refugees?

Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003, 2,184 children arrived in Australia without a valid visa and sought asylum (unauthorised arrivals) - all these children were held in immigration detention while their refugee status was being determined. More than 92% of these children were found to be refugees and were granted a temporary protection visa. For some nationalities the success rate was even higher (98% Iraqi; 95% Afghan).

Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003, 3,125 children arrived in Australia with a valid visa and then sought asylum (authorised arrivals) - these children were not held in immigration detention while their refugee status was being determined. Only 25% of these children were found to be refugees. The top three countries of origin for authorised arrivals were Fiji, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Year of Application
Unauthorised arrival children recognised as refugees
Authorised arrival children recognised as refugees
1999–00
95.2%
(569 out of 598 applicants)
30.6%
(260 out of 851 applicants)
2000–01
90.0%
(815 out of 906 applicants)
19.0%
(185 out of 973 applicants)
2001–02
95.2%
(639 out of 671 applicants)
23.7%
(178 out of 751 applicants)
2002–03
33.3%
(3 out of 9 applicants)
30.9%
(170 out of 550 applicants)

Who operates the detention centres?

The Department is responsible for the operation of Australia's immigration detention centres. However, since February 1998 and throughout the period of the Inquiry, ACM - a private firm - was contracted by the Department to deliver all services at the detention centres.

Immigration Detention Standards, developed by the Department, set out the quality of services expected in the centres and the requirement to take into consideration the individual needs of detainees. Department officers at each immigration detention centre are expected to monitor the performance of ACM against these standards.

What did children say about detention centres?

I want to tell you that actually I spent about fifteen nights in the ride to Australia. I was in a small boat if you want to call that a boat, because it was smaller than that, with lots of difficulties. When I saw [we were] getting near Australia I was becoming a little bit hopeful. When we passed Darwin I got to the detention centre, as soon as I looked at these barbed wires my mind was full of fear. That was the time that I experienced fear …

Unaccompanied Afghan boy found to be a refugee, Melbourne focus group


I think every Australian knows what a prison is, what a prison looks like and what happens in a prison … prisoners they know when they’re going to be released … and at that date they’re going to get their freedom … But in detention centre, like no one knows when they’re going be released. Tomorrow, day after tomorrow, for two years, like, you know, waiting how much hard it is …

Teenage boy found to be a refugee, Brisbane focus group

I think that the children should be free and when they are there for one year or two years they are just wasting their time, they could go to school and they could learn something. They could be free. Instead they are like a bird in a cage.

Ten-year-old Afghan girl found to be a refugee,
Perth focus group

We came here because we wanted freedom. We did not come to be imprisoned for three years. Nothing will help us, only freedom will help us. We want to be free – that is all.

Detainee boy, Baxter