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A fenced area with several portable buildings on a reddish dirt field under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Sparse greenery is visible in the background.
Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Immigration detention and human rights

The human rights of people who are in immigration detention are of special concern to the Commission. Liberty is a fundamental human right, recognised in major human rights instruments to which Australia is a party.
A young child peers through a metal fence. Text reads: The Forgotten Children. National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014.
Asylum Seekers and Refugees

National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention - Index

Inquiry publications: Report - The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014 (2015) ( h ard copies are available from the Commission's offices at Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney) Summary factsheet - The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in...
A child's painting shows two people on a brown boat in blue waves, with a fence in the water. The text at the bottom reads “NO WAY TO AUSTRALIA"
Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Transfer of asylum seekers to third countries

Updated 6 January 2016 In August 2012 the Australian Government introduced a third country processing regime for asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat, without a valid visa. There are many aspects of this regime which may lead to breaches of Australia’s human rights obligations. The third...
Flower Gate
Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Refugees with adverse security assessments

The Commission has serious concerns about the situation for people who have been found to be refugees, but who have received adverse security assessments from the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). For information about refugees with adverse security assessments, see the...
An illustration shows the text, Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution, above an image of a yellow envelope with a person symbol inside.

Immigration detention, asylum seekers and refugees

The Commission seeks to ensure that the human rights of all people held in immigration detention in Australia are protected. The Commission has focused its recent immigration detention work on the conditions and treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and children, because they have specific...
Illustration of raised hands, a flying dove with an olive branch, and the quote All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Additional text about acting in a spirit of brotherhood appears below.
Rights and Freedoms

Rights and freedoms - right by right

As part of the development of our new website we are developing pages on human rights scrutiny by reference to each area of rights and obligations set out in the main human rights treaties which have been developed by the international community and adopted by Australia in the years since the...