Inquiry into the circumstances of the Vivian Alvarez matter

The report identifies numerous failures in DIMIA processes that adversely affected Ms Alvarez. These include the failure by DIMIA officers to properly identify Ms Alvarez, the decision to detain her under the Migration Act, the subsequent decision to remove her from Australia, the level of health care provided to her while in detention, and DIMIA’s response to concerns raised by her former husband as to her whereabouts. Recommendations made in the report reinforce a number of the recommendations made by Mr Mick Palmer AO APM in his inquiry into the circumstances of the immigration detention of Cornelia Rau. The report also identifies failures by several individual DIMIA officers who, on becoming aware in 2003 and 2004 that an Australian citizen had been wrongfully removed from the country, took no further action on the matter. The report recommends that the Secretary of DIMIA consider whether some officers may have breached the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct. Released 6 October 200