Key Immigration Detention Values

On July 2008 the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship delivered a speech entitled 'New Directions in Detention – Restoring Integrity to Australia's Immigration System'. In this speech, the minister outlined seven values that will guide and drive new detention policy and practice into the future.

These values will result in a risk-based approach to the management of people in immigration detention.

The government's seven key immigration detention values are:

1. Mandatory detention is an essential component of strong border control.
2. To support the integrity of Australia's immigration program, three groups will be subject to mandatory detention:
1. all unauthorised arrivals, for management of health, identity and security risks to the community
2. unlawful non-citizens who present unacceptable risks to the community and
3. unlawful non-citizens who have repeatedly refused to comply with their visa conditions.
3. Children, including juvenile foreign fishers and, where possible, their families, will not be detained in an immigration detention centre (IDC).
4. Detention that is indefinite or otherwise arbitrary is not acceptable and the length and conditions of detention, including the appropriateness of both the accommodation and the services provided, would be subject to regular review.
5. Detention in immigration detention centres is only to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.
6. People in detention will be treated fairly and reasonably within the law.
7. Conditions of detention will ensure the inherent dignity of the human person.