List of Australian immigration detention facilities
Encyclopedia
This is a list of current and former Australian immigration detention facilities
. Immigration detention facilities are used to house people who are detained under Australia’s policy of mandatory detention
and the Pacific Solution
. Most facilities are operated by Australasian Correctional Management
under contract from the Department of Immigration And Citizenship (DIAC).
Australian immigration detention facilities
Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia and one on the Australian territory of Christmas Island. They are used to house people who are detained under Australia’s policy of mandatory detention and previously under the now defunct...
. Immigration detention facilities are used to house people who are detained under Australia’s policy of mandatory detention
Mandatory detention in Australia
Mandatory detention in Australia concerns the Australian federal government's policy and system of mandatory immigration detention active from 1992 to date, pursuant to which all persons entering the country without a valid visa are compulsorily detained and sometimes subject to deportation.In the...
and the Pacific Solution
Pacific Solution
The Pacific Solution was the name given to the Australian government policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention camps on small island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland...
. Most facilities are operated by Australasian Correctional Management
Australasian Correctional Management
Australasian Correctional Management was a private company owned by Wackenhut, a subsidiary of multinational security giant Group 4 Securicor. From 1998 until 2003 ACM was responsible for running at least six Immigration detention centres in Australia...
under contract from the Department of Immigration And Citizenship (DIAC).
| Australian Immigration detention centres | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facility | Status | Classification | Managed | Opened | Closed | Capacity | Location |
| Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre or commonly just Baxter Detention Centre, was an Australian immigration detention facility near the town of Port Augusta in South Australia. It was the focus of much of the controversy concerning the mandatory detention of asylum seekers in Australia... |
Closed | ? | Australasian Correctional Management Australasian Correctional Management Australasian Correctional Management was a private company owned by Wackenhut, a subsidiary of multinational security giant Group 4 Securicor. From 1998 until 2003 ACM was responsible for running at least six Immigration detention centres in Australia... |
Sept. 2002 | August 2007 | 660 (nominal); additional 220 (surge) | Port Augusta Port Augusta, South Australia -Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north... |
| Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre or commonly just Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, is an Australian immigration detention facility located on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.- History:... |
Operational | ? | Serco Australia | 2008 | - | 400 (nominal); additional 688 (surge); 1088 total | Christmas Island Christmas Island The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands.... |
| Cocos Island Contingency Reception Centre | Operational | ? | ? | Sept. 2001 | March 2002 | ? | West Island West Island The West Island is the unofficial name given to the western cities and boroughs of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada... , Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cocos (Keeling) Islands The Territory of the Cocos Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia, located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka.... |
| Curtin Detention Centre Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre is an Australian immigration detention facility in the Kimberley in Western Australia. Curtin was described by former Immigration minister, Philip Ruddock, as the country's "most primitive" processing centre... |
Closed/Reopened | ? | Serco Australia | April 2010 | - | 300 | RAAF Base Curtin RAAF Curtin RAAF Base Curtin is a Royal Australian Air Force base located near the town of Derby on the north coast of Western Australia. As it is one of the RAAF's three 'bare bases' no Air Force units are currently based at Curtin and it is maintained by a small caretaker staff during peacetime... , Derby, Western Australia Derby, Western Australia Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Derby had a population of 3,093. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000... |
| Northern Immigration Detention Centre Northern Immigration Detention Centre Northern Immigration Detention Centre is a facility operated by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship to house people and process their applications concerning immigration detention. It is located at Coonawarra, an outer Darwin suburb and is described as primarily accommodating... at Darwin Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities... |
Operational | ? | Serco Australia | August 2001 | - | 382 (nominal); additional 164 (surge) | Darwin Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities... |
| Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre is an Australian immigration detention facility in Maribyrnong, Victoria. Originally opened in 1966, as the Maribyrnong Migrant Hostel, then the Midway Hostel in the late 1960s and now based within a part of Victoria University's campus student... |
Operational | ? | GSL GSL -Biology:* Glycosphingolipids, a subtype of glycolipids containing the amino alcohol sphingosine-Companies and organizations:* Geological Society of London* Ghana School of Law... |
1966 | - | 75 (nominal); additional 5 (surge) | Maribyrnong Maribyrnong, Victoria Maribyrnong is a suburb 8 km north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong, part of River Ward. At the 2006 Census, Maribyrnong had a population of 8242.... |
| Nauru Detention Centre Nauru detention centre The detention center on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru was based on a Statement of Principles, signed on 10 September 2001 by the President of Nauru, René Harris, and Australia's then Minister for Defence, Peter Reith. The statement opened the way to establish a detention center for up... |
Closed | ? | ? | 2001 | 2008 | ? | Nauru Nauru Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just... |
| Perth Immigration Detention Centre Perth Immigration Detention Centre Perth Immigration Detention Centre was opened in 1981 and is located near the domestic terminal of Perth Airport, Western Australia.-See also:* Australian immigration detention facilities* List of Australian immigration detention facilities... |
Operational | ? | Serco Australia | ? | - | 55 (nominal); additional 9 (surge) | Redcliffe Redcliffe, Western Australia Redcliffe is a suburb of Perth and is located within the City of Belmont local government area.The story of its name is ambiguous: while some claim it was named after steep red clay deposits that lined the banks of the Swan River when settlers first arrived, others claim that it was named after the... |
| Phosphate Hill Immigration Detention Facility | Operational | ? | Serco Australia | 2001 | ? | 238(nominal) | Christmas Island Christmas Island The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands.... |
| Port Augusta Residential Housing Project | Operational | ? | ? | ? | - | 40 (nominal); additional 8 (surge) | Port Augusta Port Augusta, South Australia -Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north... |
| Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Centre | Closed | ? | ACM | 1991 | April 2003 | approx. 600 | Port Hedland Port Hedland, Western Australia Port Hedland is the highest tonnage port in Australia and largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a population of approximately 14,000 .... |
| Scherger Immigration Detention Centre | Operational | ? | Serco Australia | October 2010 | - | 300 | RAAF Base Scherger RAAF Scherger RAAF Base Scherger is the newest of the Royal Australian Air Force's three 'bare bases', completing a chain of bases across Australia’s ‘top end’... , Weipa, Queensland Weipa, Queensland Weipa is the largest town on the Gulf of Carpentaria coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Weipa had a population of 2,830; the largest community on Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast... |
| Villawood Immigration Detention Centre Villawood Immigration Detention Centre Villawood Immigration Detention Centre is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia... |
Operational | ? | Serco Australia | 1976 | - | 510 (nominal); additional 190 (surge) | Villawood Villawood, New South Wales Villawood, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and City of Fairfield, is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the Greater Western Sydney region.... |
| Woomera Detention Centre | Closed | ? | ACM | November 1999 | April 2003 | approx. 2,000 | Woomera Woomera, South Australia The town, or village, of Woomera is located in the south east corner of the Woomera Prohibited Area ; colloquially known as the Woomera Rocket Range... |
| Inverbrackie Alternative Place of Detention Inverbrackie, South Australia Inverbrackie is a locality in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. It includes the Woodside Barracks , South Australia, although there are also some other residents and businesses in Inverbrackie. It is about 3 km from Woodside.It is on the Nairne to Woodside road... |
Operational | ? | ? | ? Dec. 2010 | - | 400 (nominal) | Woodside, South Australia Woodside, South Australia Woodside is a town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. The town is between Balhannah and Lobethal, from the state capital, Adelaide. Amenities include a swimming pool, , second hand store, grocery store, tennis club, bowls club and playing fields. The Johnston family of Oakbank... |
| Total capacity | - | ||||||