I know that around the ChilOut table we have thought about our country's asylum policy in this somewhat philosophical way but I was surprised to see this question in the foreword of a Joint Committee report into Australia's Immmigration Detention system. The exact words were:

At its heart, this inquiry poses fundamental questions about our national identity. How does Australia treat people seeking asylum? What weight do we ascribe to human rights on our own borders? Is there a standard for how a civilised, humane society responds when people arrive uninvited asking for protection, irrespective of who they may be, their mode of arrival, or the challenges they pose? Whether discussing policy in Parliament or around the kitchen table, we each have to ask ourselves: does Australia pass this test?

Locking up children, including unaccompanied children in remote locations for indefinite periods is surely a fail of that test? 

Particular areas of interest in the report are:

Expansion of community detention (CD) Seems to be the week for this discussion (see our piece in the Punch on Monday). The report gives the budget facts of this $629 million in 2011-12 to run our detention facilities vs $150million to run the CD program over the same period. Even expanding CD to accommodate hundreds more people would be more cost effective by far. 

Use of metropolitan locations The Committee stated that children and families in particular should not be in remote detention. 

Minister should not be guardian The Committee called for an independent guardian of unaccompanied minors. Many of the 3,500 submissions to the Inquiry raised concern with the fact that the person who can lock up a child is also the person meant to act in that child's best interests. 

Child protection. Human rights. For so long the issue of children in detention has been the victim of ridiculous political point scoring. The Committee firmly placed the discussion as being one of child protection acknowledging the need to include Children's Commissioners in the processes. 

The Committee's report made a number of recommendations specific to children: 

Recommendation 19  5.95 The Committee recommends that relevant legislation be amended to replace the Minister for Immigration as the legal guardian of unaccompanied minors in the immigration detention system. 

Recommendation 20  5.109 The Committee recommends that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship develop and implement a uniform code for child protection for all children seeking asylum across the immigration system. 

Recommendation 21  5.110 The Committee further recommends that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship adopt Memoranda of Understanding with children's commissions or commissioners in all states and territories as soon as possible.

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ChilOut welcomes the Committee's report but is keen to see action and implementation. As the IDC report released last week clearly stated, there is no need to detain a child for 3 months in any type of facility. ChilOut welcomes legislated maximum periods of detention for children and adults but would want to see legislation particular to children and a very clear commitment about where children were being accomodated during any necessary checks.