The Department of Home Affairs has been accused of improperly detaining a person in a case the Commonwealth Ombudsman has compared to the Cornelia Rau experience 12 years ago.
In his report Investigation into the Circumstances of the Detention of Mr G, Ombudsman, Michael Manthorpe (pictured) said the victim was detained for nearly four years despite holding a valid visa to stay in Australia.
Mr Manthorpe said the detainee “Mr G” had his application for a permanent visa refused which resulted in his bridging visa being cancelled which led to him being detained in immigration detention.
“However due to an error with notification of the refusal, Mr G’s bridging visa remained valid,” Mr Manthorpe said.
“It wasn’t until nearly four years later, when Mr G was being assessed for removal to his home country, that the mistake was noticed.”
The Ombudsman said that while it appeared Mr G was properly detained in the first instance, it was not acceptable that the Department failed to assess his case when it became aware of the notification issue six months after he had been detained.
“Although the circumstances of Mr G’s case are unique, it highlights a potential systemic issue that echoes the findings of Mr Mick Palmer relating to Ms Cornelia Rau some 12 years ago,” Mr Manthorpe said.
“It is essential that the ongoing detention of a person in an immigration detention facility should depend not only on the formation of a reasonable suspicion that a person is an unlawful non-citizen upon their placement in detention, but that this reasonable suspicion must be maintained.”
He said the suspicion should not be formed once and then be presumed to be perpetually true.
Mr Manthorpe made four recommendations in his report, including that the Department review how it maintained suspicion that a person in immigration detention was an unlawful non-citizen; that it update its relevant policies and procedures; that it offer Mr G appropriate redress including possible compensation; and that it identify all cases affected by the errors.
The Department accepted the recommendations.
The Ombudsman’s 18-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
