List of Australian immigration detention facilities

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A sign at the entrance of the former Baxter Detention Cent, taken in 2006. Baxtersign.jpg
A sign at the entrance of the former Baxter Detention Cent, taken in 2006.
Asylum seekers protesting against detention at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on 22 April 2011. Asylum seekers on the roof of Villawood Immigration Detention Centre 2.jpg
Asylum seekers protesting against detention at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on 22 April 2011.
The entrance of the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, taken in April 2003, following closure of the Centre. Woomera-irpc.jpg
The entrance of the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, taken in April 2003, following closure of the Centre.

This is a list of current and former Australian immigration detention facilities . Immigration detention facilities are used to house people in immigration detention, and people detained under the Pacific Solution, and Operation Sovereign Borders.

Most facilities were operated by Australasian Correctional Management (a subsidiary of G4S) under contract from the Department of Immigration until 2003, when ACM exited the market. Between 2003 and 2009, G4S was appointed as the contractor to manage a large number of facilities. Its contract was not renewed and in 2009 Serco Australia was awarded a five-year contract. The offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus were operated by Broadspectrum (formerly known as Transfield Services), with security sub-contracted to Wilson Security, and later by Canstruct International. The new centres in Lorengau have security by Paladin Group.

Australian government immigration detention centres in Australia and offshore
FacilityStatusClassificationManagedOpenedClosedCapacity
nominal; [surge]		Location
Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre ClosedMaximum Australasian Correctional Management (G4S subsidiary)September 2002August 2007660; [220] Cultana, South Australia
Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre OperationalMaximum G4Sserco and mss security sec s10, [1] then Serco 2001-2008 (temporary), 2008–present800; [688] Christmas Island
Cocos Island Contingency Reception Centre ClosedMaximumAustralasian Correctional Management (G4S subsidiary)serco and mss securitySeptember 2001March 2002 West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre ClosedMaximum Serco subcontractors mss securityApril 2010 (reopened)September 20141,500 RAAF Curtin, Western Australia
Darwin Alternative Place of Detention Opening [2] MediumDepartment of Immigration and Border Protection585 Darwin Airport, Northern Territory
Inverbrackie Alternative Place of Detention ClosedMedium Serco 18 December 2010Mid 2014400 Woodside, South Australia
Leonora Alternative Place of Detention [3] ClosedMedium Serco 20102014210 Leonora, Western Australia
Manus Regional Processing Centre [4] ClosedMaximum G4S, then Broadspectrum with security subcontracted to Wilson Security [5] 2001–2004, 2012– October 201731 October 20171100 [6] Los Negros Island, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre OperationalMediumSecurity and some services by Paladin Group 2017213 [7] or possibly 280 [8] Lorengau, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
West Lorengau Haus OperationalMediumSecurity and some services by Paladin Group 2018111 [7] Lorengau, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
Hillside Haus OperationalMediumSecurity and some services by Paladin Group 201898 [7] Lorengau, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre Closed [9] Maximum Global Solutions (former G4S subsidiary). [10] 1983201875; [5] Maribyrnong, Victoria
Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation Open ? Serco 2008396 [11] Broadmeadows, Victoria [12]
Nauru Regional Processing Centre OperationalMaximum Broadspectrum with security subcontracted to Wilson Security, [13] [5] and then later Canstruct (Oct 2017 - Nov 2018)2001–2008, 2012–present [14] 1,200 Nauru
Northern Immigration Detention Centre OperationalMaximumDepartment of Immigration and Border ProtectionAugust 2001382; [164] Coonawarra, Northern Territory
Perth Immigration Detention Centre OperationalMaximumDepartment of Immigration and Border Protection198155; [9] Perth Airport, Western Australia
Pontville Immigration Detention Centre [3] ClosedMedium Serco August 2011September 2013400Brighton Army Camp, Pontville, Tasmania
Port Augusta Immigration Residential Housing [3] ClosedMedium Serco 2010201464 Port Augusta, South Australia
Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Centre ClosedMaximumAustralasian Correctional Management (G4S subsidiary)1991April 2003600 Port Hedland, Western Australia
Scherger Immigration Detention Centre [3] ClosedMaximum Serco 20102014596 RAAF Scherger, Queensland
Sydney Immigration Residential Housing OperationalMedium Serco [15] 200648 Villawood, New South Wales
Villawood Immigration Detention Centre OperationalMaximum Serco [16] 1981510; [190]Villawood, New South Wales
Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre ClosedMaximumDepartment of Immigration and Border Protection8 December 2011July 20161,000 Wickham, Northern Territory
Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre ClosedMaximumAustralasian Correctional Management (G4S subsidiary)November 1999April 20031,500 Woomera, South Australia
Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre OperationalMaximum Serco [17] 27 June 2012600 Northam, Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manus Island</span> Island within Manus Province, Papua New Guinea

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi), measuring around 100 km × 30 km. Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel, 718 metres (2,356 ft) above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene, 8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Solution</span> Australian asylum policy from 2001

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian immigration detention facilities</span>

Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia, including the Australian territory of Christmas Island. Such facilities also exist in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, namely the Nauru Regional Processing Centre and the Manus Regional Processing Centre.

Villawood Immigration Detention Centre

Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, originally Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre, split into a separate section named Westbridge Migrant Hostel from 1968 to 1984, is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia.

Nauru Regional Processing Centre Former offshore Australian immigration detention facility

The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Government of Nauru. The use of immigration detention facilities is part of a policy of mandatory detention in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorengau</span> Lorengau Town in Manus, Papua New Guinea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadspectrum</span> Australian infrastructure maintenance services company

Broadspectrum, formerly known as Transfield Services, was an Australian and New Zealand company that provided infrastructure maintenance services. Formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and later owned by Ferrovial, it was then acquired by Ventia who integrated Broadspectrum alongside Visionstream

The Australian government has a policy and practice of detaining in immigration detention facilities non-citizens not holding a valid visa, suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in immigration detention until a decision is made by the immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of origin/passport. Persons in immigration detention may at any time opt to voluntarily leave Australia for their country of origin, or they may be deported or given a bridging or temporary visa.

Christmas Island Detention Centre Australian immigration detention facility

Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre or commonly just Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, is an Australian immigration detention facility located on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

Illegal immigration to Australia is defined by the Migration Act 1958, which distinguishes between "lawful non-citizens" and "unlawful non-citizens".

Asylum in Australia has been granted to many refugees since 1945, when half a million Europeans displaced by World War II were given asylum. Since then, there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East, with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.

Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is a border protection operation led by the Australian Defence Force, aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. The operation is the outcome of a 2013 federal election policy of the Coalition, which commenced on 18 September 2013 after the election of the Abbott government. The operation has implemented a "zero tolerance" posture towards what it has termed "Illegal Maritime Arrivals" − a change in terminology from the previous government's "Irregular Maritime Arrivals" − in Australia, in conjunction with mandatory detention in offshore detention facilities.

Reza Barati was a 23-year-old asylum seeker who was killed during rioting at the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRPC), Papua New Guinea, on 17 February 2014. An Iranian Kurd, he had arrived in Australia on 24 July 2013 – just five days after the PNG solution was announced – and was sent to Manus Island in August.

Manus Regional Processing Centre An offshore Australian immigration detention facility

The Manus Regional Processing Centre, or Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRCP), was one of a number of offshore Australian immigration detention facilities. The centre was located on the PNG Navy Base Lombrum on Los Negros Island in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea.

<i>Migration Act 1958</i> Act of the Parliament of Australia

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Wilson Security is an Australian private security company. In 2014 it acquired the security contracts of ISS A/S Security in Australia and First Security Business in New Zealand. Wilson Security is a part of the Wilson Group which is Hong Kong owned.

International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) provides primary and mental health care services within the Australian immigration detention network under a contract with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. It is a subsidiary of International SOS.

Paladin Group, also known as Paladin Solutions, Paladin Holdings and Paladin Solutions Group, is a security and project services contractor which operates in South East Asia, Australia and Oceania.

Canstruct is a facilities management, construction, and service provision company based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, with operations in the Pacific region.

References

  1. ↑ "Immigration Detention Services". G4S. 2008. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "Darwin immigration detention centre closes due to 'success in stopping boats'". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 February 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ireland, Judith (14 January 2014). "Scott Morrison announces closure of four immigration detention centres". Sydney Morning Herald . AAP. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Manus Regional Processing Centre". Australian Border Force. Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 Farrell, Paul (24 February 2014). "Manus Island and Nauru centres to be run by Transfield in $1.2bn deal". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "The truth about Manus Island". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Cashing in on refugees, duo make $20 million a month at Manus Island". Australian Financial Review . 10 February 2019. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  8. ↑ Ben Doherty (18 May 2017). "'Welcome to Lorengau': reality of detention camp on Manus belies holiday-style brochure". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  9. ↑ "Government shuts Maribyrnong immigration detention centre, citing fall in numbers". The Guardian. 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Global Solutions Ltd – Corporate Watch". corporatewatch.org. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  11. ↑ "Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation". globaldetentionproject.org. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Detention Facilities". www.abf.gov.au. Australian Border Force. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Nauru Manus Island Fact Sheet" (PDF). Wilson Security. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Nauru Regional Processing Centre
  15. ↑ "2011 Immigration Detention at Villawood, Section 4" (PDF). www.humanrights.gov.au. Australian Human Rights Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "NZer who died in detention centre 'had black eyes'". 5 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  17. ↑ Davidson, Helen (18 September 2018). "Serco guard at Western Australia immigration centre accused of sexual assault". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
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