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Following a successful application for asylum, children - either individually or as part of their family group - are generally released from detention into the community on a three-year temporary protection visa (TPV).

During the period of the Inquiry, immigration detention facilities in Australia were managed for the Department by Australasian Correctional Management, although the Department maintains an official presence at each immigration detention facility.

The Inquiry received 346 submissions, including 64 confidential submissions. Detailed information was provided by organisations representing detainees, human rights and legal bodies, members of the public, religious bodies, state government agencies and a range of non-government policy and service-providing organisations.

As a sovereign country, Australia has a right to decide who is allowed to enter and stay in the country. However, with this right comes a set of legal responsibilities.

Rest, play, recreational activities and the opportunity to take part in artistic and cultural events, as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, are very important for the healthy development of children.

The Inquiry has found that Australian laws that require the mandatory immigration detention of children, and the way these laws are administered by the Commonwealth, have resulted in numerous and repeated breaches of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In Port Hedland there is a school outside ... I used to stand on a chair and look out at them. I like to see what they looked like in their school uniform. There was an officer … and she pulled my shoulder down and put me on the ground and said, ‘You are not allowed to look at those people because they are different to you.’ And I was like ‘Why are they different to me? Because they know English and they are Australian, does that make them better?’

I am primarily a paediatric doctor. I saw many of the children in [Woomera] … and really so many of their problems relate directly to the prolonged and indeterminate nature of their detention, which is a combination of the very harsh and isolated physical environment, the poor accommodation facilities and the lack of resources for their mental health and their leisure activities.

I felt so bad staying in a place surrounded by razor fence. I can’t understand and I always asked ‘Why did they take me here?’ … It was scary.

Media Pack Homepage Statements by Dr Sev Ozdowski, Human Rights Commissioner (Audio Files for Download) Inquiry Commissioner and Assistants Biographies About the Inquiry Inquiry Methodology Terms of Reference Useful Links and Resources

It was established to consider whether Australia's immigration detention laws and its treatment of children in immigration detention comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

According to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (also called the Refugee Convention), a refugee is someone who is outside their own country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their: