OPCAT debacle: Australia embarrassed on world stage as UN suspends visit

A funding deadlock between the federal and state governments led to the UN taking "drastic action".

Australia has been humiliated on the global stage after a visiting United Nations group suspended its visit aimed at preventing human rights abuses in prisons due to being repeatedly blocked from visiting multiple places of detention.

The obstruction from multiple state governments has placed Australia in breach of its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), which it ratified in 2017.

Signatories to OPCAT must allow the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) to visit their places of detention and talk directly to the people being held there. 

The SPT arrived in Australia to conduct these inspections for the first time last week, as part of a visit meant to run until Thursday. But on Sunday, the group said it had suspended its visit after it was blocked from visiting prisons in New South Wales, and mental health facilities in Queensland.

The federal government has so far refused to provide ongoing funding to the states to implement their obligations under OPCAT. These relatively cheap obligations are aimed to preventing human rights in places of detention, and have been estimated to cost $2.5 million annually for the larger states.

The SPT’s delegation head said the visit had been “compromised” by the moves of the NSW and Queensland state governments.

“This is a clear breach by Australia of its obligations under OPCAT,” UN SPT delegation head Aisha Shujune Muhammad said.

“It is deeply regrettable that the limited understanding of the SPT’s mandate and the lack of cooperation stemming from internal disagreements, especially with respect to the States of Queensland and New South Wales, has compelled us to take this drastic measure. This is not a decision that the SPT has taken lightly.”

The NSW government confirmed last week that it would not allow the SPT to visit any of its places of detention unannounced, and followed through with this threat later that week when it prevented the group of experts from visiting the Mary Wade Correctional Centre, the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre and the Queanbeyan Court Cells.

The Queensland government also confirmed that it would block access to its mental health units where people are held on charge or against their well, blaming this on privacy laws. But the states have had five years to prepare for these visits, which must be “unfettered”.

The issue is the culmination of a deadline between the federal and state governments over who should fund the other obligations under OPCAT, primarily the establishment of independent inspection bodies for places of detention.

Australia has already pushed back its deadline to have these bodies in place several times, and now must have them running across the country by January this year. But New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland have all signalled they will not act until they are provided with ongoing funding from the Commonwealth, something which is yet to be approved.

The disagreement boils down to about $2.5 million in annual funding for the larger states. The Victorian Ombudsman estimated this would be the cost of a properly resources inspection body in that state.

With the revolt of the states and the UN’s suspended visit, Australia now risks being placed on the UN’s Article 17 non-compliance list.

“This will be a major issue for our international standing, given that ratification of OPCAT by us was part of our candidacy for a place on the UN Human Rights Council, and that Australia positions itself as a leading advocate for a rules-based international system,” Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay said.