Taking Liberties
In early 2023, the Ombudsman asked the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) and the Australian Border Force (ABF) what they had done to improve the process for removing unlawful non-citizens from Australia following the Federal Court’s criticism of the process in Sami v Minister for Home Affairs [2022] FCA 1513 (Sami).
The information given in response did not assure us that Home Affairs and ABF had addressed the criticisms in Sami, so in September 2023 we investigated and in February 2024 published the report Taking Liberties: Investigation into the appropriateness of Department of Home Affairs’ and Australian Border Force’s policies and procedures for the timely removal of unlawful non-citizens from Australia.
Our investigation found that Home Affairs and ABF had not reviewed or updated their policies and procedures following the criticism in Sami.
We also found that Home Affairs and ABF’s policies and procedures to remove unlawful non-citizens from Australia still did not achieve timely outcomes or acknowledge that the person at the centre of the process is deprived of their liberty while awaiting removal from Australia.
The Ombudsman’s report made 3 recommendations to Home Affairs and ABF aimed at improving the process and minimising the time people are deprived of their liberty while awaiting removal from Australia.
The recommendations were for Home Affairs and ABF to:
- in the removals process, prioritise achieving the quickest removal possible
- review their policies and procedures against every relevant judicial and tribunal decision
- review all significant removal cases after their conclusion, considering the entirety of the detention and removal period.
Home Affairs and ABF accepted our recommendations. We will commence follow-up on their implementation of these recommendations by the end of 2024.
2024