Joint select committee on Australia's immigration detention network: final report

On 16 June 2011 the Parliament established the Joint Select Committee on Australia\u27s Immigration Detention Network.    Chapter 1 sets out the administrative arrangements for the inquiry and outlines the roles of the key organisations and government agencies involved in the immigration detention network. Chapter 2 provides an overview of Australia\u27s current immigration detention network, summarises other inquiries related to the terms of reference and provides a background and brief history of Australia\u27s policies in relation to immigration detention. Chapter 3 contains an analysis of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship\u27s (DIAC) administration of its contracts with Serco as well as Serco\u27s performance of its wide-ranging duties to run detention facilities. Chapter 4 examines DIAC\u27s provision of health services to people in detention, both through its contracted service provider IHMS and through local hospitals, with a particular emphasis on the provision of mental health care. Chapter 5 examines the impact of detention on detainees, including children, and looks at how frontline staff working in facilities are affected. Chapter 6 outlines Australia\u27s obligations under international law, and scrutinises refugee and security assessment processes conducted by DIAC and ASIO respectively. Chapter 7 turns to alternatives to held detention, such as community detention and bridging visas, describing potential ways to reduce the number of people in restrictive detention facilities and chapter 8 looks at disturbances in detention facilities, and includes a comprehensive summary of the report by Dr Allan Hawke and Ms Helen Williams into disturbances at the Christmas Island facility in March 2011 and at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in April 2011. At its heart, this inquiry poses fundamental questions about Australia\u27s national identity by considering how we treat people seeking asylum and what weight we ascribe to human rights on our own borders?   Image: DIAC Images / flick