74
In July 2020, the Commonwealth Ombudsman issued a statement on the management of
COVID-19 risks in Australian immigration detention facilities.133 The Ombudsman noted that
although he was ‘broadly satisfied’ with the DHA’s implementation of site level strategies to
prevent and respond to COVID-19 (including overall screening mechanisms and sufficient
supplies of hand hygiene products), he cautioned the DHA ‘against complacency,’ noting that
the threat posed by COVID-19 is likely to remain for some time, ‘particularly in closed
environments.’134 The Ombudsman expressed particular concern regarding the number of
people currently held in immigration detention, and recommended that:
‘the department works with the relevant Ministers to reduce the numbers of people
held in immigration detention facilities, with a particular focus on achieving effective
social distancing in the facilities, and with particular regard to detainees with underlying
health issues that may render them susceptible to any outbreak of COVID-19.’135
75
As noted by Foster and Robertson, there are a range of alternative measures to keeping
people in immigration detention centres readily available to the Government. Community
Detention (Residence Determination), for example, has been in operation in Australia for
many years, and allows a person to live in designated residential housing with ample room
for self-isolation, while ensuring immigration authorities can maintain checks and balances
on community safety.136 Indeed, 846 people were already living in community detention
before the pandemic hit.137
Risk to Stateless Persons in the Australian Community
76
More than a million people – asylum seekers on bridging visas and temporary visa holders
including refugees, migrant workers and potentially stateless persons – have been left out
of the Australian Government’s economic measures to support the community during the
pandemic.138
77
In defending the Government’s decision to exclude temporary visa holders from substantive
financial support measures, the Australian Prime Minister urged those unable to support
themselves to leave the country and ‘make their way home.’139 However, for many temporary
visa holders in Australia, leaving simply is not an option, particularly for the thousands of
stateless people in Australia who have no country to return to.140
<https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/300-mensen-zonder-papieren-vrijgelaten-coronavirus-zet-dvz-onderdruk~bf3d626d/?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fpursuit.unimelb.edu.au%2Farticles%2Fdetention-increases-covid-19-health-risk>; Diane Taylor,
‘Home Office Releases 300 from Detention Centres amid Covid-19 Pandemic’, The Guardian (online, 22 March 2020)
<https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/21/home-office-releases-300-from-detention-centres-amid-covid-19-pandemic >.
133 Commonwealth Ombudsman, ‘Statement by the Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthrope on the Management of COVID-19
Risks in Immigration Detention Facilities’ (Media Release, 1 June 2020)
<https://www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/111235/1-July-2020-Statement-by-the-Commonwealth-OmbudsmanMichael-Manthorpe-on-the-management-of-COVID-19-risks-in-immigration-detention-facilities.pdf>.
134
Ibid 2.
135 Ibid 6.
136 Michelle Foster and Katie Robertson, ‘Detention Increases COVID-19 Health Risk’, Pursuit (17 April 2020)
<https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/detention-increases-covid-19-health-risk >.
137
Department of Home Affairs (Cth), Australian Border Force, Immigration Detention and Community Statistics Summary (29 February
2020) 4 <https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/immigration-detention-statistics-29-february-2020.pdf >.
138 Katie Robertson, ‘What About Those Left Out by the Stimulus Package?’ Pursuit (7 May 2020)
<https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-about-those-left-out-by-the-stimulus-package >.
139
Ben Doherty, ‘Victoria Latest State to Help Temporary Migrants Excluded from Federal Coronavirus Support’, The Guardian (online, 30
April 2020) <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/30/victoria-latest-state-to-help-temporary-migrants-excluded-fromfederal-coronavirus-support >.
140 Katie Robertson, ‘What About Those Left Out by the Stimulus Package?’ Pursuit (7 May 2020)
<https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-about-those-left-out-by-the-stimulus-package >.
16