Australia’s Mandatory Detention Policy Report

Running Head: Social Policy
Australia’s Mandatory Detention
Policy
Report
System04104
7/17/2019

Social Policy
1
Introduction
Australia’s mandatory detention policy was framed to detain the non-Australian
people who arrive in the country without any legal document or valid visa. These asylum
seekers can be held by the government under this policy and the only way to end the
detention of such type of people is to take granted visa from the government or after
receiving permission from the government to stay in Australia or after their transfer to their
home country. This report discusses the background of Australian mandatory detention policy
and it also helps to understand whether this policy can be justified as a rightful and ethical
way to ensure the integrity of the Australian immigration program. The report also helps to
understand that this Australian policy whether follows the basic norms of equality, justice,
fairness or humanity.
What is mandatory detention policy?
The Australian mandatory detention policy was framed in 1992 with bi-partisan
support. The policy was framed to detain those people who arrive in the country unlawfully
and without legal documents. According to this policy, all non-Australian citizens must be
detained in the immigration custody, who do not have a valid visa or legal documents until
they get a valid visa or removed from the country (Rivas & Bull, 2018). An unlawful or non-
Australian citizen is any person who does not have a valid visa or local residential
documents. These non-Australian citizens also include asylum seekers who arrive in the
country for protection or want to live in various refugee camps of the country. However,
people whose valid visa is expired or who overstayed in the country or people who have their
visa cancelled will be liable to deportation to their home country. Many people think that this
policy was framed for those asylum seekers or non-Australian residential who were boat
arrivals or entered in the country illegally by seaways (Fleay, Hartley & Kenny, 2013).
Formulation and Implementation of the Policy
Australian mandatory detention policy was formulated in 1992 after bringing reforms
in the ‘Migration Act of Australia, 1992.’ The detention policy was formulated as a reaction
of the arrival of 438 Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cambodian ‘boat people’. This detention
policy was passed by the Australian parliament in the duration of the Keating government in
1992. Before 1992, the Migration Act of Australia shows a clear difference between illegal

Social Policy
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entrants in the country and unauthorised border arrivals such as boat arrivals. After 1992,
Australia’s mandatory detention policy authorised the Australian government to detain people
from not more than 273 days who arrived in the country by boats without any legal
permission or authority of the Australian government (Silove & Mares, 2018). This policy
was framed to control over the illegal entry of boat arrivals and to restrict those asylum
seekers who arrive in the country without permission. This policy was also formulated to
restrict these types of people to enter in the country. The mandatory detention policy was also
formulated to make a tighter control over the immigration policy of the country. However,
the government brings frequent changes in this act and ensures every time that unauthorised
arrivals of people can be strictly reduced in the country, and stop them to enter in the local
Australian community. However, illegal entrants are those people who entered the country by
fraud or by any illegal ways. These types of people were liable to be deported to their
respective country and the government could not detain them more than 48 hours (Fleay,
2015).
However, the detention period of asylum seekers or boat arrivals were always a
concern, which was raised by various human rights organisation and various other NGO’s
that, are working for the farewell of asylum seekers and refugees (Hartley & Pedersen, 2015).
Through this policy, the government ensures that the identity of every people can be assessed
and then after they have been granted a visa to stay in the country. The policy also enables
the government to deport those people whose visa application were rejected by the
government or if the application of people to stay in the country was rejected by the
Australian government (Opeskin, 2012).
Human Right Concerns about this Policy
According to this policy, any people who have no legal documents or a valid visa to
stay in the country is subject to immigration detention. However, the only way to come out
from the detention is to get the valid visa from the government or being liable to get
permission from the government to stay in the country (Garnier & Cox, 2012). However, if
the person failed to do so, he will be kept in detention for a long time of period or even for
lifetime detention. According to a judgement of the Australian High Court, those individuals
whose custody cannot be over or ended, then they must be detained in the country (Silove &
Mares, 2018). It means, a person who applied for asylum seekers and ask protection from the
government if failed to prove himself as an asylum seeker, will be kept in detention for an