‘A shameful mark’: UN terminates Australian visit

A group of UN experts has given up on its attempts to inspect Australia's prisons and other places of detention after they were blocked by multiple state governments.

The United Nations anti-torture body has officially terminated its inspection of prisons and other places of detention in Australia, only the second time it has ever done this.

Australia now joins Rwanda as the only nations to have a UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) visit terminated due to a lack of cooperation.

It comes after the SPT suspended its visit to Australia in October due to being blocked from inspecting places of detention in New South Wales and Queensland.

The NSW government has continued to refuse to provide unfettered access to places of detention in the state, making the federal government unable to guarantee the SPT the access it requires, and leading to the official termination this week.

“The Subcommittee requested a number of assurances from the state party in order to resume its visit,” the SPT said on Tuesday morning.

“However, some of the requested guarantees were not provided, and the Subcommittee could not ascertain that it would be able to resume its visit in a reasonable timeframe.”

‘No alternative’

Under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), which Australia ratified in 2017, nations must provide a group of UN experts unhindered access to places of detention as part of visits to the countries.

But when the SPT group visited Australia in October last year, NSW blocked them from inspecting its prisons while Queensland prevented it from accessing its mental health facilities.

Despite the Australian government meeting with the SPT on a “number of occasions”, it was unable to convince the body to not terminate the visit. 

“Despite the good cooperation the Subcommittee has with the Australian federal authorities following our initial mission, there is no alternative but to terminate the visit as the issue of unrestricted access to all places of deprivation of liberty in two states has not yet been resolved,” SPT chair Suzanne Jabbour said.

“Nevertheless, a report based on what the SPT observed during its October visit before the suspension will be shared with the state party as soon as possible. It will enable ongoing communication with the Australian government.”

The decision is another step towards Australia being placed on the UN’s non-compliance list, Australia OPCAT Network coordinator Steven Caruana said.

“The SPT have visited over 60 countries across more than 80 trips and our obstruction to the visit means Australia misses a vital opportunity to learn from the best and most contemporary humane practices the rest of the world has to offer,” Caruana says.

“It was also an opportunity to show the world, through independent, expert eyes, where we can be followed in terms of respecting human rights. The termination sends a message that Australia is not an example for others to follow and our rhetoric around respecting the international rules-based order is hollow.”

'Deeply embarassing’

The termination of the UN visit is “deeply embarrassing for Australia”, Human Rights Watch Australian researcher Sophie McNeill said, while Save the Children Australia head of policy Simon Henderson said it is a “shameful mark on Australia’s human rights record, that was entirely preventable”.

Under OPCAT, Australia must also establish independent inspection bodies for places of detention, to be created by each state and territory. But the January deadline has been missed, and NSW, Victoria and Queensland have said they will not act on their obligations until they are provided with federal funding.

Australia will now appear before the SPT to attempt to argue why it shouldn’t be placed on the non-compliance list.

“What makes matters worse for Australia is that it has had an extended deadline for compliance, above and beyond any other country in the world,” Caruana says.

“It is clear the Commonwealth Attorney-General must hold an urgent meeting with his counterparts to work through the funding issue that has been at the heart of why Australia is not compliant with its obligations for over half a decade on from ratification.”

The SPT visit was discussed at Senate Estimates last week, with Attorney-General Department representatives saying they were still hopeful of the visit resuming.

“We are certainly working very hard to assure members of that committee of our commitment not only to the convention, but actually seeking to have the visit resumed,” Department representatives said.

“We’d like to think we can make progress and get the visit resumed. I would not jump to the conclusion that there will be a finding of non-compliance as is formally understood at the UN.”

The Department officials confirmed that the NSW state government was still refusing to provide unfettered access to places of detention in the state.