25 Immigration Detainees Charged Since Release, Emergency Powers Not Being Used

Security guards patrol the grounds near rolls of razor wire at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 9, 2005. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

When a High Court ruling on indefinite immigration detention triggered the release of 149 people in December 2023, the Albanese government scrambled to pass emergency legislation bringing in community safety or supervision orders, which would see freed detainees locked up again, or subject to strict surveillance, if they reoffended.

Since then, 25 have been charged, but no applications for orders have been made. Instead, as of Jan. 31, 113 released detainees had ankle monitoring bracelets placed on and were subject to curfews.

Of the 149 people who were released following the ruling, seven had previously committed murder or attempted murder; 37 sexual-based offending, including child sex offending; 72 assault and violent offending, including kidnapping and armed robbery; 16 domestic violence and stalking; and 13 serious drug offending.

Fewer than five were involved in people smuggling and fewer than five were involved in low-level or no criminal offences.

As of Feb. 12, seven people have been re-arrested and charged for breaching visa conditions under the new laws. A further 18 have been charged by state and territory police forces for other offences as of Feb. 1.

No Prospect of Resettlement

Detainees who have offended since their release have not been put back into immigration detention because there is no prospect of them being resettled in another country, which would again put the government in breach of the High Court’s ruling.

So far Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada have all refused to take them. Discussions with the United States are continuing.

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Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said community safety was paramount and the government had brought together highly respected law enforcement officers to provide advice on combating the threat.

“We also have now four layers of protection including stringent visa conditions, electronic monitoring, and curfew arrangements as well as preventative arrangements,” he told Parliament.

“We have been working around the clock to ensure the community is kept safe.”

The advisory board has met seven times since it was formed in December, most recently on Jan. 25.

Applications Take Long Time to Prepare

Home Affairs’ legal group manager Clare Sharpe told a parliamentary hearing that it took time to prepare an application under the new laws, due to the high evidence threshold and there being tens of thousands of documents involved for each person.

“It’s critical to a successful application to get that information right,” she said.

Only two applications for preventative detention under a similar scheme had been successful and the quickest it took to prepare was 10 months.

More than 20 staff and a team of lawyers from the Australian Government Solicitor’s office have worked on the applications, which were well advanced, according to the Secretary of Home Affairs Stephanie Foster.

To date, more than $13 million has been spent managing the released detainees following the High Court decision.

AAP contributed to this report