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Asylum Seekers and Refugees
27 November 2024News storyExplainer: Commission does not support the Migration Amendment Bill
The Australian Government has introduced new migration laws into Parliament to expand search and seizure powers in immigration detention centres. The Commission does not support the Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2024 -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
25 November 2024News story
Submission on the Migration Amendment Bill 2024
The Australian Human Rights Commission has made a submission to the Parliamentary Committee that is considering the Migration Amendment Bill 2024. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
25 November 2024Submission
Migration Amendment Bill 2024
Learn more about the Migration Amendment Bill 2024 and how it impacts human rights. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
19 April 2024News story
Inspection report: “serious concerns” at Yongah Hill Detention Centre
An inspection report by the Australian Human Rights Commission has found that a high-security immigration detention centre in Western Australia was, in part, “no longer fit for purpose”, and raised serious concerns over safety conditions and the level of care for detainees and staff. The Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre Inspection Report followed a two-day inspection of the adult… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
7 December 2023Opinion piece
Hasty detainee laws raise human rights concerns
Read an opinion piece from Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay raising concerns about the passage of new laws responding to the fallout from the recent NZYQ High Court decision. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
9 November 2023Media Release
Commission commends High Court ruling on indefinite immigration detention
The Australian Human Rights Commission has welcomed yesterday’s High Court ruling which determined that Australia’s system of indefinite immigration detention is unlawful. The landmark decision overturns almost two decades of the practice by Australian authorities in finding it is unlawful to hold a person in immigration detention when there is no real prospect of them being removed from… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
20 June 2023Media Release
Inspection report: Serious human rights concerns in hotel detention
Explore an inspection report by the Commission that found serious human rights concerns persist in the use of hotels as alternative places of detention. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
14 June 2023Publication
The Use of Hotels as Alternative Places of Detention
Overview The Australian Human Rights Commission conducts ongoing monitoring of conditions in detention to ensure that Australia’s immigration detention system complies with our obligations under international human rights law. Australia’s immigration authorities use hotels as Alternative Places of Detention (commonly known as APODs) instead of housing some people in immigration detention… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
4 April 2023Publication
Australia’s international obligations
Australia is obliged under international law to protect the human rights of all asylum seekers and refugees, regardless of how or where they arrive. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
7 October 2022Media Release
Joint Statement on the use of hotel APODs
This Statement provides guidance on the short-term use of hotel APODs, including access to open‑air exercise, access to meaningful programs and activities, and the need to ensure medical and welfare services are of the same standard as those provided in other immigration detention facilities. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
7 October 2022Publication
Joint Statement on the use of Hotels as Alternative Places of Detention
Read the joint statement on the use of hotels as alternative places of detention for asylum seekers. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
29 March 2022Publication
The detention of refugees following visa refusal or cancellation under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (2022)
Learn about detention of refugees following visa refusal. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
6 October 2021Media Release
Statement on ending offshore processing in PNG
The Australian Human Rights Commission acknowledges the Federal Government’s announcement that it will stop the offshore processing of asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea at the end of 2021. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
15 June 2021Media Release
Commission urges immediate action on COVID-19 risk to people in immigration detention
The Australian Government must act urgently to reduce the number of people in closed immigration detention in response to the ongoing risks posed by COVID-19, according to a new report by the Australian Human Rights Commission. Management of COVID-19 risks in immigration detention recommends new safety measures be introduced to protect people in immigration detention, and the wider community… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
15 June 2021Publication
Management of COVID-19 risks in immigration detention (2021)
Learn how COVID-19 is a threat to people held in immigration detention, as the virus can spread quickly in enclosed, confined spaces such as detention -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
5 May 2021Media Release
Media Statement: Federal Court improves pathways to protection for more than a thousand asylum seekers taken to Ashmore reef
More than 1,000 asylum seekers have a greater ability to apply for protection in Australia following a landmark judgment by the Federal Court on Tuesday. “When a person seeks asylum in Australia, it’s vital that their application be processed quickly, fairly and transparently. This judgment will remove administrative barriers for a vulnerable group of people who have been waiting too long to… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
2 December 2020Publication
Inspections of Australia's immigration detention facilities 2019 Report
Human Rights Commissioner’s foreword For several decades, the Australian Human Rights Commission has expressed deep and longstanding concern about the human rights of people held in Australia’s immigration detention facilities. As a result of our most recent inspection process, that concern has deepened. Some of the issues of greatest concern to the Commission are as follows. A number of… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
13 October 2020Opinion piece
Who are we leaving behind?
In presenting last week’s Federal Budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, “we will get through this together.” Togetherness is an important value in Australia. It speaks to the basic liberal democratic principle that no-one in our community should be left behind. While much of last week’s Budget analysis focused on the details of tax breaks and tax cuts, at a basic level the Budget is also a…
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