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UN raises concerns about Australia's detention of children, minorities
(MENAFN) A United Nations inspection team has voiced serious concerns over the treatment of children, First Nations people, individuals with disabilities, and migrants in detention facilities across Australia following a 12-day visit.
While the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention acknowledged “much to commend” in Australia’s judicial independence and legal procedures, it highlighted a lack of transparency in human rights safeguards. The group also warned that Australia’s mandatory detention policy for refugees and asylum seekers breaches international human rights treaties, according to reports.
During the visit, the inspectors toured 16 detention facilities, interviewed 89 detainees, and held discussions with government officials, judicial representatives, and civil society groups in multiple states. They were permitted to access facilities in New South Wales, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory, but were denied entry to all institutions in the Northern Territory.
“In over 30 years of UN detention monitoring worldwide this is the first time an entire region of the country had completely refused co-operation with our working group,” said Ganna Yudkivska, chair of the delegation.
Australia is one of only two countries, alongside Rwanda, where the UN has halted a visit after partial access was denied in prior inspections—in Queensland and New South Wales in 2023.
The team also received reports describing people intercepted at sea being held on rubber mats inside cages aboard boats, sometimes for weeks. “The opacity surrounding this form of detention is of extreme concern and we call on the Commonwealth government to disclose the numbers, duration and conditions of such detention at sea,” the inspectors stated.
Additionally, the delegation raised alarm over the disproportionate representation of First Nations people in prisons. Between July 2024 and June 2025, Australia recorded its highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in four decades, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
While the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention acknowledged “much to commend” in Australia’s judicial independence and legal procedures, it highlighted a lack of transparency in human rights safeguards. The group also warned that Australia’s mandatory detention policy for refugees and asylum seekers breaches international human rights treaties, according to reports.
During the visit, the inspectors toured 16 detention facilities, interviewed 89 detainees, and held discussions with government officials, judicial representatives, and civil society groups in multiple states. They were permitted to access facilities in New South Wales, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory, but were denied entry to all institutions in the Northern Territory.
“In over 30 years of UN detention monitoring worldwide this is the first time an entire region of the country had completely refused co-operation with our working group,” said Ganna Yudkivska, chair of the delegation.
Australia is one of only two countries, alongside Rwanda, where the UN has halted a visit after partial access was denied in prior inspections—in Queensland and New South Wales in 2023.
The team also received reports describing people intercepted at sea being held on rubber mats inside cages aboard boats, sometimes for weeks. “The opacity surrounding this form of detention is of extreme concern and we call on the Commonwealth government to disclose the numbers, duration and conditions of such detention at sea,” the inspectors stated.
Additionally, the delegation raised alarm over the disproportionate representation of First Nations people in prisons. Between July 2024 and June 2025, Australia recorded its highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in four decades, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
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