Offshore Detention, Class Actions & Parliamentary Inquiries: 2016 Developments
Monday 16 January 2017 @ 11.42 a.m. | Immigration
There have been a number of class actions and inquiries launched by or on behalf of people detained in Australia’s offshore detention centres. This article provides a snapshot of the status of two class actions and an inquiry that are currently underway.
Christmas Island Class Action
This class action is being run by Maurice Blackburn against the Commonwealth of Australia of the Minister for Immigration and Border Security and is also in the Supreme Court of Australia. The class action is being run on behalf of people who were in detention on Christmas Island from 27 August 2011 to 26 August 2014, who were injured and/or pregnant while in detention.
The case, known as “A.S. by her litigation guardian v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection & Ors, S CI 2014 4423”, is a negligence claim. It is currently listed before Justice J Forrest for directions on 3 March 2017, with the trial listed on 15 March 2017.
Manus Island Class Action
This class action is being run by Slater and Gordon against the Commonwealth of Australia and two of its sub-contractors, G4S and Broadspectrum in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The class action is being run on behalf of persons detained on Manus Island between 21 November 2012 and 19 December 2014.
The case was originally a negligence claim around psychological and physical injury. However, following the 2016 PNG Supreme Court ruling that the Manus Island Detention Centre is in breach of the PNG Constitution, the class action was amended to also include claims that the detainees have been falsely imprisoned on the island. In an interview on Radio National in September last year, Andrew Baker of Slater and Gordon said that the courts were currently considering “a group of documents that have been the subject of claims for public interest immunity by the Commonwealth”, as “some of those documents have been the subject of some challenge or dispute”.
There are no current court listings for the class action, known as “Kamasaee v Commonwealth of Australia & Ors, S CI 2014 6770”.
Parliamentary Inquiry
The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs is currently also holding an inquiry into “Serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers in relation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre, and any like allegations in relation to the Manus Regional Processing Centre”. The inquiry was referred to the Senate on 12 September 2016 and is due to report by 30 March 2017. Two public hearings were conducted last year in Canberra (11 November 2016) and Melbourne (15 November 2016). Public submissions to the Committee are now closed.
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