BackThe Commonwealth Ombudsman, Mr Michael Manthorpe PSM, has released a report into the detention of a man who was detained for nearly four years while he still held a visa, as a result of problems with the notification of refusals from the Department of Home Affairs.
Mr G had his application for a permanent visa refused which resulted in his bridging visa being cancelled. As a result, he was detained in immigration detention. However due to an error with notification of the refusal, Mr G’s bridging visa remained valid. 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.
While it appeared Mr G was properly detained in the first instance, the Ombudsman said it was not acceptable that the department failed to assess Mr G’s case when it became aware of the notification issue six months after Mr G 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, and which also arose in a recent case of wrongful detention of a citizen” 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. It should not be formed once and then be presumed to be perpetually true” Mr Manthorpe said.
The report makes four recommendations aimed at improving the Department of Home Affairs’ processes. The Commonwealth Ombudsman welcomes the department’s decision to accept all four recommendations and the Ombudsman’s Office will monitor the implementation of these.
Read the full report below.
Source: Commonwealth Ombudsman
