- A new report released today exposes excessive and unlawful handcuffing in Australian immigration detention.
- First-hand accounts of detainees reveal handcuffing practices are breaching human rights, causing physical and psychological harm and preventing access to critical medical care.
- Two former detainees are available to share personal stories they describe as ‘beyond imagination’ and an experience that ‘break[s] you from the inside out’.
A new report released today by the Justice and Equity Centre shares accounts of excessive, inhumane and harmful handcuffing of people in Australian immigration detention.
Beyond Imagination: Lived experiences of handcuffing and healthcare failures in Australian immigration detention highlights how insufficient oversight and regulation from the Australian Government is enabling misuse and overuse of handcuffing by immigration detention contractors. Based on accounts from 40+ former and current detainees, the report demonstrates the urgent need for reform to protect the human rights of people in detention.
The Australian Government says immigration detention operators should only use force, including handcuffs, as a last resort. Accounts from detainees show this is not the case. As one person told us: ‘The handcuffs, everywhere you go, they put them on you’.
Government data obtained through Senate Estimates and under freedom of information laws shows handcuffing has become routine practice for immigration detention authorities – despite criticism from oversight bodies including the Australian Human Rights Commission and Commonwealth Ombudsman. A Federal Court decision suggests the pre-emptive, routine handcuffing taking place cannot be legally justified.
In 2025, the Australian Government changed immigration detention contractors, awarding a multi-billion-dollar contract to Secure Journeys, a subsidiary of US private prison operator, Management & Training Corporation. Under their operation, the widespread use of handcuffs has continued. Recent media reports and a Commonwealth Ombudsman report highlighted an Australian Border Force ‘blanket directive’ for restraints to be used for all transport and escort of people in immigration detention.
For a decade, the JEC has worked to protect the rights of people held in Australian immigration detention. In 2023, we settled a landmark test case against the Commonwealth and former contractor Serco for a client forced to wear handcuffs to attend medical appointments, despite a history of trauma and PTSD, and against medical advice not to use restraints.
Many detainees have a history of torture and trauma, as well as other complex health conditions. Our report shows people chose not to attend vital medical appointments while detained due to the psychological and physical harm caused when they are forced to wear handcuffs.
The report urges the Australian Government to protect the human rights of people in detention by ensuring detainees have access to healthcare, establishing an oversight body to enforce minimum health standards and implementing stronger regulation of handcuffing and other uses of force. These are recommendations developed in consultation with detainees.
Beyond Imagination will be formally launched at Johnson Winter Slattery in Sydney on 22 July 2026.
Hassan’s story
Hassan fled Iran after his family were threatened by the Basij (Morality Police). He sought asylum in Australia but was detained on Christmas Island, then moved to offshore detention centres. Hassan says he was denied medical care in detention for high cholesterol, which caused a heart attack.
‘When I had the heart attack… [detention operators] ordered a helicopter ambulance for Medevac to take me to the hospital in Brisbane. They handcuffed me for that journey. Whenever they wanted to take me to the hospital, they handcuffed me,’ Hassan says.
‘The morning when they came to take me to the hospital, they said they wanted to handcuff me. I said I don’t want to be handcuffed. They said “okay, we won’t go to the hospital then.” But I had to go, I’d had a heart attack, I didn’t have a choice.’
‘I was so shocked. What is the point of handcuffing someone who has had a heart attack? It was horrible. Still, I am unable to process it. I still get emotional about it.’
Over nearly a decade in Australian immigration detention, Hassan saw many people handcuffed, including people with mental health conditions. And others who refused handcuffs and could not access healthcare as a result.
‘I want to ask the Australian Government: when someone is a refugee or seeking asylum, what is the offence? Their life was at risk in their home country, why are they being treated like a criminal, why do they need to be handcuffed?’
Nauroze’s story
Nauroze was detained in Australian immigration detention for five years, after his bridging visa was cancelled when his application for a partner visa was declined. According to Serco records, Nauroze was handcuffed more than 40 times while in detention, but Nauroze says he was handcuffed hundreds of times, causing lasting harm. On at least 14 occasions, Nauroze was handcuffed against medical advice.
‘Every time they moved me between centres, I would be handcuffed from the moment they came into my room at 4am and the entire time on the flight,’ Nauroze says.
‘They wouldn’t take off my handcuffs when I used the bathroom. They would take me to medical appointments and parade me around in handcuffs. Sometimes I would be passed out, handcuffed to the bed.’
‘It felt horrible. It was degrading and made me feel like less than a human being. I am being treated for PTSD I have from the handcuffs. But getting justice is part of the healing process.’
‘I still have nerve damage because of the handcuffs… It is permanent now.’
Comments attributable to Jonathan Hall Spence, Principal Solicitor at the Justice and Equity Centre:
‘Our report shows the Australian Government failing in its duty of care to people in immigration detention. Current handcuffing practices are breaching human rights, preventing access to health care and causing physical and psychological harm.
‘People have shared harrowing stories with us in the hope the Australian Government will listen and take action to improve human rights protections in immigration detention. While each story is different, what they all have in common is they all come from people shamefully let down by the Australian Government and immigration detention operators.
‘When the Commonwealth Government dropped notorious multinational Serco as its major immigration detention contractor in 2024, it signed a multi-billion dollar contract with US firm Secure Journeys. A recent Commonwealth Ombudsman report shows that on many fronts, this change has not improved detention conditions. If anything, they are even worse.
‘This report shows why the Australian Government must urgently safeguard human rights through stronger regulation of handcuffing and other uses of force, and ensuring all people detained have access to the healthcare they need by introducing minimum health standards.’
Jonathan is available for interview and can provide an expert legal perspective on handcuffing in immigration detention.
Media contact:
Media and Communications Manager, Dan Buhagiar: 0478 739 280
