What really happens on in detention?
You can read some accounts of detention on the detention and children's stories page
Where are the detention centres? Here is a map showing all of them.
Types of detention
IDCs, APODs, IRHs and ITAs - what does it all mean. Let's be very clear, ChilOut is opposed to all these forms of detention. They are simply new terms for the same abuse. Let's explore it further:
Community Detention or residence determination. The Howard Government established this to release children and their families from detention facilities into the community - NOT into renamed places of detention the way the ALP government has been doing since 2007. Community detention is the only form of detention in Australia where there is some freedom of movement. There are requirement about living at a specified location, reporting to the Department of Immigration and in some cases to always be in the company of a designated person. More info. This is the only form of detention for children that ChilOut finds acceptable and in keeping with Australia's international obligations.
Alternative temporary detention in the community This form of detention is the most insidious example of misinformation in the detention regime. There is nothing "community" about this detention. People remain locked in secure facilities, kept under guard and have no freedom of movement whatsoever. Many people kept in these situations are unaccompanied minors, children with no adult relative. Children aged 5-15 years are meant to attend local schools, but we hear reports that not all do. There is no pre-school or equivalent for children under 5 and nothing for teenagers over 15years to do. Many of the facilities used as APODs - alternative places of detention have been acquired by the Department of Immigration in relatively short spaces of time and as such are not equipped to meet the needs of children. Some are previous defence bases, some are private hotels. Recreation facilities, shade, stimulation are all lacking. Presently APODs are located in Leonora WA , Inverbrackie SA, the Darwin Airport Lodge , the Darwin Asti Motel and the Construction Camp on Christmas Island .
Immigration residential housing IRH facilities are less secure forms of detention centres. They are more flexible and supportive housing arrangements in "family-style accommodation". In Sydney, it is a group of houses with central, shared recreation and outdoor facilties. People are able to cook their own food and control many aspects of their household. In addition to onsite recreational and social activities, people are also able to go shopping and participate in community events (only occasionally and only with a specified escort). People in this arrangement remain under the control of designated officers. While still a mini-detention centre, they are certainly an improvement on IDCs. C urrently these facilities are in Sydney , Perth and Port Augusta .
Immigration transit accommodation This term refers to hostel-style accommodation for people whose immigration pathway is likely to be resolved quickly. ITAs were intended only to be used for very short-term accomodation, but with the increase in detainee numbers they are now used to house large numbers of unaccompanied children. They are not appropriate places for medium or long-term detention. There is the Brisbane BITA and the Melbourne MITA.
Immigration detention centres IDCs These centres accommodate a range of unlawful non-citizens, mainly those who have overstayed their visa, breached visa conditions or have been refused entry at Australia's international airports. Among immigration detention centres in Australia are Villawood (Sydney), Northern (Darwin), Maribyrnong (Melbourne), Perth, Christmas Island , Curtin (North-Western Australia) and Scherger (Weipa, Far North Queensland). There are no children in these maximum-security detention centres, according to the department. (The facilities on Christmas Island, for instance, provide various levels of accommodation.)
Overseas. Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia. Australia funds immigration centres in Indonesia and people whose boats were bound for Australia and turned back are kept in these centres. More overseas info
The official line The Department of Immigration and Citizenship provides its own information on each type of facility. Be warned, most of it is bureacratic waffle that does not accurately reflect the true picture. For example, they state that children in APODs (alternative places of detention) get to go out on regular excursions. We know that at one APOD with no outdoor playing facilities this has meant a weekly visit to the local park for 10 children at a time. There were around 80 children detained there, so each child goes to the park roughly once every 2 months. Read the waffle here.