Detention and the treatment of prisoners

The Bill amends the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to empower the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to ban mobile phones and other items in immigration detention centres. It also expands immigration officers’ warrantless search and seizure powers, and authorises them to use dogs to search detainees and visitors.

We support the Commonwealth Government’s commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (the Charter) imposes human rights obligations on every public authority in Victoria.  Relevantly for present purposes, s 10 of the Charter provides that:

A person must not be—

(a) subjected to torture; or

(b) treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way; or

Government should reject calls for a more punitive approach to child prisoners, and should focus on the promotion of the rehabilitation of children and the removal of children from detention.

Liberty Victoria strongly opposes the Sentencing (Community Correction Order) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2016 (Vic) (‘The Bill’). It is an unnecessary reform to the Community Correction Order (‘CCO’) regime that further entrenches mandatory sentencing in Victoria.

The legal apparatus that provides for a person with a cognitive disability to be detained, without review and on an indefinite basis, is concerning. The right to liberty, and the associated right to humane treatment while being deprived of liberty, are core tenets of Liberty Victoria[1] and are also enshrined under international human rights law.[2]