The Australian government detains non-citizens under the control of the Department of Home Affairs, principally through the Australian Border Force (ABF). Detention is mandatory: section 189 of the Migration Act 1958 provides that any person reasonably suspected of being an unlawful non-citizen must be detained, and section 196 provides that they must be kept in detention until removed, deported or granted a visa. The regime captures both people who arrive without a valid visa and people who arrive lawfully and later become unlawful through visa expiry or cancellation, including cancellation on character grounds under section 501. No statutory time limit applies, and judicial review is limited; release generally depends on the grant of a bridging visa or on a ministerial residence determination allowing a person to live in the community.
According to the Global Detention Project, Australia operates a severe and punitive system of mandatory, indefinite detention that distinguishes neither between adults and children nor between visa violators and asylum seekers, and in which private contractors paid billions to run the centres have been repeatedly criticised for abuse and for failing to provide services. As of March 2026, Home Affairs held detainees in six immigration detention centres: Villawood, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Yongah Hill and Perth. There are also alternative places of detention, a category that includes hotels, apartments, hospitals, aged-care facilities and mental health inpatient units. As of 31 March 2026 there were 1,096 people in detention facilities, 85.1 per cent of whom had a criminal history, and a further 84 living in the community under a residence determination; the average period of detention was 451 consecutive days, and 6.1 per cent of detainees had been held for more than five years.
Australia's offshore detention regime has drawn sustained international condemnation. Under the Pacific Solution begun in 2001 and revived in 2012, asylum seekers intercepted at sea were transferred to regional processing centres on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru, where the UNHCR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented harsh conditions and mistreatment. In April 2016, in Namah v Pato, the PNG Supreme Court held that detention at Manus breached the constitutional right to personal liberty; the centre closed on 31 October 2017 amid the cutting of power, water and medical services. The Guardian's 2016 publication of the "Nauru files", more than half of which concerned children, prompted further scrutiny, and in 2017 the government settled a class action brought by 1,905 Manus detainees for A$52.7 million. A United Nations report found systematic violations of the Convention Against Torture, and the policy has been scaled back following fourteen detainee deaths, multiple suicide attempts and at least six referrals to the International Criminal Court.
However, Nauru Regional Processing Centre in 2026 was still working. Length of detention Australian immigration detention is not subject to a fixed statutory maximum duration. Under the Migration Act 1958, an unlawful non-citizen is generally required to remain in immigration detention until they are removed from Australia or granted a visa. However, the High Court of Australia held in NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (2023) that the Constitution limits the duration of detention where there is no prospect of a person’s removal in the foreseeable future.
The average length of time spent in immigration detention had steadily increased over the past decade until 2022, hitting a peak of over 800 days, before declining to 456 days as of August 2026. The Australian Department of Home Affairs provides updated monthly detention statistics.
In some cases, people have been held in detention for over 10 years, such as Ghader Mohamed, an Ahwazi man from Iran who has been detained since 2010, and Said Imasi, a stateless man born in Western Sahara. In 2023, after more than 13 years in detention, Imasi was released from Villawood Detention Centre.
In June 2019, it was revealed that a Tamil man from Sri Lanka had been held in detention for 9 years. The man, who was blind, as well as mentally and physically disabled, was being held in Villawood Detention Centre at the time of publishing. In 2002–2003, the man was captured by the Sri Lankan Army and tortured, after which he fled the country. He was recognised as a refugee by Australia, but received an adverse security assessment from Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
History of mandatory detention Mandatory detention of asylum seekers (so called, "unlawful arrivals") in Australia was established by the Keating government by the Migration Reform Act 1992 which came into operation on 1 September 1994. It was originally intended as an interim measure. Controls on unauthorised arrivals were tightened under the subsequent Howard government, including under the Pacific Solution policy, contributing to a sharp decline in boat arrivals and, consequently, to numbers of people being detained. The Pacific Solution was dismantled by the Rudd government and partially restored under the Gillard government in response to increased boat arrivals and reported deaths at sea.
Mandatory detention was introduced to "support the integrity of Australia's immigration program" and "management of Australian borders" and to distinguish between those who have submitted themselves to offshore entry processes prior to arrival and those who have not. Under the policy, asylum seekers are mandatorily detained while they "undergo an assessment process, including security and health checking, to establish if they have a legitimate reason for staying in Australia".
Keating government (1992–1996) Before 1992, the Migration Legislation Amendment Act 1989 had created a regime of administrative detention of unlawful boat arrivals. Although officers were obligated to arrest and detain anyone suspected of being an ‘illegal entrant’, detention was discretionary. Between November 1989 and January 1994, there was a "second wave" of unauthorised boat arrivals comprising eighteen boats carrying 735 people (predominantly Cambodian nationals).
By June 1992, there were 478 people in immigration detention of whom 421 were boat arrivals (including 306 Cambodians), compared to five in immigration detention in January 1985. The Keating government's interim measures in 1992 were contained in the Migration Amendment Act 1992, which set up a regime of mandatory detention, with bipartisan support. Immigration Minister Gerry Hand told Parliament in his Second Reading Speech:
The Migration Amendment Act 1992 did impose a 273-day limit on detention, but specifically disallowed judicial review. The final scheme was contained in the Migration Reform Act 1992, which came into operation on 1 September 1994, which broadened the application of mandatory detention to all who did not hold a valid visa, and removed the 273-day detention limit. The Act also introduced detention charges (detention debts) whereby an unlawful non-citizen was liable for the costs of his or her immigration detention.
Non-citizens in Australia without a valid visa were to be considered unlawful and would have to be held in detention, though those who met certain criteria and were not considered flight or security risks could secure lawful status by means of a bridging visa – but bridging visas would not be made available to those who arrived in Australia without visas in the first place (such as boat arrivals). The government argued that this distinction was justifiable because visa overstayers had already submitted themselves to proper entry processing offshore and were therefore in a different category to those who had not and that boat arrivals had demonstrated a high likelihood of absconding where detention was not in place.
Howard government (1996–2007) The Liberal-National Party Coalition led by John Howard defeated the Keating government in the 1996 federal election. In 1999 the Howard government created the temporary protection visa category for asylum seekers whose claims for refugee status had been accepted. These visas were granted only to unauthorised arrivals and were criticised because they left the refugee in limbo indefinitely. These people did not have rights to work, to family reunion, a right to return to Australia if they left, and their status was to be reviewed every three years.
Australia's immigration policies towards asylum seekers were a significant issue in the 2001 federal election. Howard said in a campaign policy speech:
The Tampa affair arose during the election campaign. Following the election, the Howard government made significant changes to Australia's immigration policy. It put in place a policy known as the Pacific Solution, which was enacted via an amendment to the Migration Act 1958, the Migration Legislation Amendment (Excision from the Migration Zone) (Consequential Provisions) Act 2001 reinforced the practice of mandatory detention, providing for the indefinite detention of asylum seekers. The report of Select Committee for an inquiry into a certain maritime incident, tabled 23 October 2002: (see here). The policy was implemented by then Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock. Under this policy, many islands were excised from the Australian migration zone, and asylum seekers were removed to third countries to determine their refugee status, namely at detention camps on small island nations in the Pacific Ocean. Also, a policy of turning back boats where possible was instigated. Howard's policies were often controversial, were criticised by some human rights groups and were the subject of protest both within and without detention centres. Through the final years of the Howard government, Australia's detention facilities were near empty, few boat voyages were being attempted and the practice of detention of children had been ended.(14 August 2012) Gerard Henderson. Boats will keep coming until someone waves the red flag. The Sydney Institute. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
Also in 2001, the Border Protection Bill provided the government with the power to remove any ship in the territorial waters of Australia, use reasonable force to do so, provide that any person who was on the ship be forcibly returned to the ship, and guaranteed that no asylum applications may be made by people on board the ship.
Mandatory detention of asylum seekers was popular with sections of the Australian electorate. Some commentators argue that it helped Howard win the 2001 federal election. While the Australian Labor Party supported the policy as Opposition, in June 2005 a small backbench revolt in Howard's party led by Petro Georgiou and Judi Moylan resulted in some concessions to humanitarian concerns, including the promised release of long-term detainees and review of future cases by an ombudsman.
Many of those detained in Australia's detention centres between 1999–2006 have been asylum seekers from Iraq and Afghanistan who sought protection or asylum under Australia's obligations to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. More than 80 percent of these were found to be refugees by the Immigration Department, with some decisions taking more than 8 months. Few asylum seekers were able to be repatriated.