Asylum seeker rights
Media and commentary related to our work on asylum seeker rights and ensuring access to health care in Australian immigration detention.
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FinanceCareer: Serco replacement picked
Senior Solicitor, Grace Gooley discusses the need for major reform in immigration detention centres as Serco loses 15-year contract.
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2SER: The End of Serco?
Serco’s time running immigration detention has been controversial, but Senior Solicitor Grace Gooley explains that reform needs to go beyond a change of contractor
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Australia’s new immigration detention contractor must not be allowed to repeat Serco’s failings
Under Serco’s 15-year watch, immigration detention facilities have been plagued by harmful and inhumane treatment of people detained.
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The Guardian: Flawed immigration detention risk assessment tool can’t be upgraded as ABF data ‘riddled with errors’
Principal Solicitor Jonathan Hall Spence provided comments about border force risk assessment to the Guardian.
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Guardian Australia: Australian immigration detainees’ lives controlled by secret rating system developed by Serco
Principal Solicitor, Jonathan Hall Spence, commented on an unjust risk assessment tool to the Guardian.
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UN committee report slams Australia’s ‘inhuman’ prisons
Australia’s prison and detention practices are inhuman, degrading and in some cases may amount to torture, a United Nations report has found. The UN has delivered a scathing assessment of Australia’s treatment of prisoners, immigration detainees and juvenile offenders, despite attempts to block inspectors from local facilities. … Public Interest Advocacy Centre principal solicitor Jonathan…
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PIAC responds to scathing UN subcommittee report on Australian detention
The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘SPT’) visited Australia in October 2022 to investigate Australia’s compliance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The SPT visited 6 prisons, 3 youth detention centres, 5…
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PIAC investigating a class action for people handcuffed in immigration detention
PIAC is investigating a potential class action lawsuit on behalf of people who have been unlawfully handcuffed in immigration detention. Current and former detainees who were handcuffed while in immigration detention are invited to share their experiences in a short online survey. Answers to 2022 Senate Budget Estimates showed that in one year the government…
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Australians need to better understand the reality of detainees’ lives
In my career as a lawyer and advocate, I have supported detainees whose social justice cases — some of the worst in the country — outline extremely distressing and difficult journeys. One resonant example is Yasir*, who sought protection in Australia in 2013 and has been in detention for 10 years. Like so many, Yasir…
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2SER: Uncovering misuse of handcuffs in immigration detention
The Commonwealth and its security contractor Serco have settled a case with PIAC client Yasir (named changed to protect client identity) after a three year legal battle in the Federal Court of Australia. PIAC has previously discussed the case on 2SER. Yasir is happy with the settlement of his case, but PIAC believes there may be…
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Unprincipled migration amendments introduce ‘indefinite surveillance’ and unjust sentences
New migration amendments introduce restrictive requirements on people who have been unlawfully detained.
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Asylum seeker settles handcuff case against Serco, govt
An asylum seeker who was forced to wear handcuffs to medical appointments while being held in Australian immigration detention has settled a claim against the federal government and security firm Serco. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) which represented the asylum seeker in his three-year legal battle in Federal Court, said the matter was recently…
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Commonwealth settles case with asylum seeker who missed medical appointments because of handcuff PTSD
We secured a settlement for our client Yasir* who alleges he was forced to wear handcuffs to access healthcare.
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PIAC seeks information for potential handcuffing class action
We’re seeking information from people who have been handcuffed while being held in Australian onshore immigration detention.
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Asylum seeker settles handcuffing case against the Commonwealth
Asylum seeker and PIAC client Yasir* has settled a claim against the Commonwealth and security contractor Serco over his treatment in Australian immigration detention. PIAC alleged the requirement that Yasir wear handcuffs to attend essential medical appointments was unlawful and a form of disability discrimination. While the terms of the settlement are confidential, Yasir is…
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Survey: Handcuff use in Australian onshore immigration detention CLOSED
This survey has now closed. If you have additional information or have been affected by this issue, please contact us here. If you participated in the survey, we will be in contact.
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Concern after Australia misses critical deadline to protect human rights
Leading civil society organisations working with people who have been detained in Australia’s immigration detention system have raised concerns over Australia’s failure to meet the deadline for implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). The groups, which include the Public Interest Advocacy Centre…
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UN urges Australia to improve treatment of people in detention
A report from the UN Committee Against Torture urges government action to improve Australia’s treatment of people in police custody, prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. The report follows a UN subcommittee visit to review places of detention in Australia, which was dramatically suspended in October when authorities in NSW and Queensland refused to…
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A Legislative Vacuum: The Healthcare Crisis in Onshore Immigration Detention
Healthcare in Australian immigration detention is in crisis. People in immigration detention continue to be arbitrarily refused medical treatment, leading to the exacerbation and non-diagnosis of many serious conditions. The Australian government is failing to provide access to medical care and treatment despite the fact that it owes a clear common law duty of care to…
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2SER interview: Why UN torture inspectors suspended their Australian visit
A UN Subcommittee responsible for the prevention of torture and cruel and degrading treatment recently visited Australia to carry out inspections of places of detention, which include prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. Shockingly, the Subcommittee ended its visit early, saying there was lack of cooperation from Australian authorities. The delegation released a statement, saying…
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UN oversight body asked to rule on cruelty of Australian immigration detention
Leading Australian human rights advocates have asked a UN oversight body visiting Australia to rule on whether treatment of asylum seekers in Australian immigration detention amounts to cruel and degrading treatment, or even torture. The UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture arrived on Sunday 16 October to investigate whether Australia is meeting its obligations…
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2SER interview: Handcuffing in Australian immigration detention
PIAC’s work with people in immigration detention shows the overuse of handcuffs is preventing people in onshore immigration detention from getting medical treatment. Senior Solicitor Jonathan Hall-Spence told 2SER about our concerns and why we are raising them with the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture ahead of a visit to Australia by committee…
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Activists Want The UN To Look Into Inhumane Use Of Handcuffs On Asylum Seekers
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is urging the United Nations torture watchdog to investigate Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers seeking medical treatment. Asylum seekers in immigration are handcuffed when seeking transfers for medical care, a practice that has been widely condemned and accused of being in breach of human rights laws. PIAC is urging…
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Being handcuffed for medical appointments left asylum seeker Yasir shaken. Why is it happening?
Asylum seekers are being given the choice of being handcuffed on their way to medical appointments or missing out on healthcare, and an Australian rights group is calling for the United Nations to look into it. On his way to see a doctor, Yasir* says he would be routinely handcuffed while he was in immigration…
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Call for UN torture watchdog to investigate Australia’s handcuffing of asylum seekers en route to medical care
The United Nations’ torture prevention watchdog has been urged to investigate Australia’s use of handcuffs on asylum seekers when seeking medical care – a practice advocates condemn as inhumane and unlawful. In 2020, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) launched a landmark test case in the federal court alleging the practice of handcuffing immigration detainees…
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Handcuffing in Australian immigration detention needs urgent review ahead of UN visit
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says a comprehensive review of handcuffing in Australia’s onshore immigration detention system is urgently needed. Handcuffing asylum seekers for offsite medical appointments and transfers between facilities has become routine practice, without individualised and appropriate assessment of risk. PIAC’s work with people in immigration detention shows the overuse of handcuffs…
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“Tough on borders”: how Australia’s immigration detention system fails refugee and asylum seeker health
Public Interest Advocacy Centre reports have found that adequate health care had not been delivered to Medevac refugees, particularly regarding mental health care services and mitigating transmission risks during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
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Medevac’d refugee finally receives treatment after 870 days detained in hotels
Following advocacy by PIAC, a refugee with a painful health condition has finally received treatment after an almost three-year ordeal. Their case highlights the Government’s failure to provide essential healthcare for people in Australian immigration detention. Zahid Hussain, who was held in the Australian immigration detention system for eight years after fleeing Pakistan, has a…
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2SER interview: medical care in immigration detention
Lucy Geddes, PIAC Senior Solicitor, discusses the onus on our Government to provide medical care to those in asylum detention.