Australia ignores UN prisons report

The federal government’s response to a UN report asking for action on mandatory detention, conditions within prisons and solitary confinement is now more than four months late.

Australia is now more than four months late in responding to a United Nations report that raised significant concerns over conditions in prisons and the mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

The UN Committee Against Torture handed down an observatory report on Australia in late 2022, requesting a range of follow up information from the government in relation to several issues.

These included the mandatory detention of people seeking asylum in Australia, the conditions in all places of detention, overcrowding in prisons, the use of restraints on people in prison, the practice of strip searching, solitary confinement and the child justice system.

As part of the process, Australia was asked to provide a response to these issues by 25 November 2023.

But more than four months later, the federal government has still not responded to these significant concerns.

This issue was raised at a Senate Estimates hearing in February, where representatives from the Attorney-General’s Department confirmed Australia was yet to respond to the UN report.

“It’s very close to being provided,” the representative said. “The reason for the delay relates to our efforts to seek input from jurisdictions and also from relevant Commonwealth agencies, which took longer than expected.”

Despite the government saying Australia’s response was “very close” to being provided to the UN, this is still yet to be done more than a month later.

The UN report had called on Australia to ensure that detention is always a last resort for those seeking asylum, and to establish statutory time limits for immigration detention.

There were requests for Australia to improve the provision of gender and age-specific medical services in prisons and to increase the number of prison staff within these facilities.

It also affirmed that solitary confinement should only be used in exceptional cases as a last resort, and that strip searches should not be a routine part of prison.

In the report, the committee demanded Australia bring its child justice system into line with the Convention Against Torture, through raising the age of criminal responsibility, reducing the incarceration of First Nations children and explicitly prohibiting the use of physical restraints and solitary confinement on children.

Australia has also failed to fully implement its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) after missing its deadline in January last year.