Danna Vale (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the release of this report of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Immigration detention in Australia: facilities, services and transparency. This is the third of three reports under the terms of reference of our inquiry into immigration detention in Australia. The first report addressed the criteria that should be applied in determining how long a person should be held in detention, the criteria that should be applied in determining when a person should be released from immigration detention following health and security checks, and review mechanisms for ongoing detention, removal practices and detention debts.

I would like to take this opportunity to say how pleased I was that the government moved so quickly to implement the committee’s recommendation regarding detention debts in the passing of the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 during the last sitting period. In the 13½ years I have been here in the parliament and working as a standing committee member, this is one of the first occasions I can clearly recall when one of our committee’s recommendations has been taken and implemented by the government, and I was pleased to support the government on this humane measure. The second report, tabled earlier this year, addressed alternatives to detention. It also recommended that the government reform the bridging visa framework to ensure it supported those released into the community.

This final report looks at options to expand the transparency and visibility of immigration detention centres. It also looks at immigration infrastructure and detention services, including health services for contemporary immigration detention. Evidence was given to our committee by many notable organisations and individuals, including A Just Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Asylum Seekers Centre, Australian Red Cross, Balmain for Refugees, House of Welcome, Mercy Refugee Service, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Detention Health Advisory Group, Law Institute of Victoria, Liberty Victoria, Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, Commonwealth Ombudsman, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Centrecare, Uniting Church of Australia, ASIO, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, GetUp! and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

The evidence received by the committee was valuable and helpful in our deliberations as we came to our recommendations to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Amongst other things, the committee recommends the reconstruction of stage 1 at Villawood in Sydney, the upgrade of the Perth Immigration Detention Centre, the maintenance of appropriate physical and mental health facilities on Christmas Island and the use of more appropriate security measures at all immigration detention centres.

The committee also recommends that detention in immigration residential housing should be used in lieu of detention in immigration detention centres, provided that it is feasible. It is noted, however, that secure detention will continue to play an important role in the immigration system. The committee recommends that the Australian National Audit Office undertake a full review of the current immigration detention service providers and immigration detention facilities within the next three years. The committee would then want this review fed into the contracts for either the next re-tender or a renewal process.

Finally, the committee makes recommendations with regard to increasing transparency in immigration detention. The committee recommends the Australian Human Rights Commission be granted a statutory right of access to all detention centres and people in detention. The committee also recommends that the media be granted greater access to detention facilities and that regular information on all immigration detention facilities and statistics on detainee population be published.

I believe that the recommendations to come from the three reports of this committee are a natural evolution of the actions of the previous coalition government. This started when the coalition moved to prevent children and families being held in detention centres and instead ensured that children and their families were appropriately housed in residential housing within the community. In this regard I acknowledge the contribution and hard work of the member for Pearce, the former member for Cook, Bruce Baird, and the member for Kooyong, who is also a member of this joint standing committee. Further, it should be noted that the previous coalition government moved to close down detention centres. Woomera was closed in 2003, Port Hedland was closed and Baxter was closed in August 2007.

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