Conditions and Circumstances at Australia's Regional Processing Centre in Nauru
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The Senate Select Committee on the Recent allegations relating to conditions and circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru Taking responsibility: conditions and circumstances at Australia's Regional Processing Centre in Nauru August 2015 Commonwealth of Australia 2015 ISBN 978-1-76010-288-3 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ Printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra. Committee membership Committee members (26 March 2015 – 31 July 2015) Senator Alex Gallacher, Chair South Australia, ALP Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Deputy Chair South Australia, AG Senator the Hon. Kim Carr Victoria, ALP Senator Linda Reynolds CSC Western Australia, LP Senator Cory Bernardi (until 26 June 2015) South Australia, LP Senator the Hon. David Johnston Western Australia, LP (from 26 June 2015 – 31st July 2015) Committee members (10 August 2015 – 31 August 2015) Senator Alex Gallacher, Chair South Australia, ALP Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Deputy Chair South Australia, AG Senator the Hon. Kim Carr Victoria, ALP Senator Linda Reynolds CSC Western Australia, LP Senator the Hon. David Johnston Western Australia, LP Senators participating in this inquiry Senator Scott Ludlam Western Australia, AG (from 25 June 2015 – 31 July 2015 and 10 August 2015 – 28 August 2015 ) Committee secretariat Ms Toni Matulick, Secretary Dr Jon Bell, Principal Research Officer Ms Shennia Spillane, Principal Research Officer Ms Aleshia Westgate, Senior Research Officer Mr Cale Woods, Administrative Officer Mr Michael Perks, Administrative Officer Committee address PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Ph: 02 6277 3583 Fax: 02 6277 5719 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Regional_processing_Nauru iii Table of contents Recommendations .............................................................................................. ix Chapter 1.............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction and background ................................................................................. 1 Referral of the Inquiry ............................................................................................ 1 Conduct of the inquiry ............................................................................................ 2 Interim report .......................................................................................................... 2 Structure of this report ............................................................................................ 3 A note on terminology ............................................................................................ 3 Background ............................................................................................................. 3 Previous reports ...................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2............................................................................................................ 11 Obligations and performance of the Commonwealth in relation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre ................................................................................... 11 Responsibilities of the Commonwealth in relation to the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru ................................................................................................... 11 Managing the conduct and behaviour of staff of the Regional Processing Centre .............................................................................................................................. 23 Transfer, assessment and resettlement of asylum seekers .................................... 43 Costs and prioritisation of resources .................................................................... 50 Chapter 3............................................................................................................ 59 Living conditions at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru ........................ 59 Department of Immigration and Border Protection responses to questions......... 59 Provision of and responsibility for marquees ....................................................... 60 Living arrangements ............................................................................................. 61 Provision of services and facilities ....................................................................... 68 Access to medical care ......................................................................................... 80 Overall living environment: prison-like conditions ............................................. 85 Chapter 4............................................................................................................ 87 Protecting asylum seekers: personal safety and security, and allegations of harm ......................................................................................................................... 87 v The Forgotten Children report .............................................................................. 87 2014 allegations and the Moss Review ................................................................ 90 Post-Moss Review evidence received by the committee ..................................... 98 Mandatory reporting of abuse ............................................................................ 113 Cable ties ............................................................................................................ 116 Chapter 5.......................................................................................................... 119 Committee views and recommendations ............................................................ 119 Responsibilities of the Commonwealth .............................................................. 121 Management of contractors and staff ................................................................. 123 Costs and prioritisation of resources .................................................................. 127 Living conditions and provision of services ....................................................... 130 Protecting the safety of asylum seekers and responding to abuse ...................... 131 Dissenting Report by Coalition Senators ...................................................... 137 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 137 Additional comments by the Australian Greens .......................................... 147 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 147 Circumstances precipitating Moss Review ........................................................ 149 Children .............................................................................................................. 154 Surveillance of a member of the Australian Senate ........................................... 168 Offshore processing ............................................................................................ 171 The Regional Processing Centre as a deterrent .................................................. 174 No guarantee of safety and security ................................................................... 179 No capacity on Nauru ......................................................................................... 184 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 187 Appendix 1 ....................................................................................................... 191 Submissions ........................................................................................................... 191 Appendix 2 ....................................................................................................... 197 Public hearings and witnesses ............................................................................. 197 Appendix 3 ....................................................................................................... 201 Additional information received by the committee ........................................... 201 vi Answers to questions on notice .......................................................................... 201 Appendix 4 ....................................................................................................... 205 Recommendations of the Moss Review............................................................... 205 vii Recommendations Recommendation 1 5.22 The committee recommends that, consistent with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding and related arrangements between the governments of Australia and Nauru, Australia ensure that support and assistance is provided to Nauru's police, judicial, prosecutorial and other law and justice entities to the extent necessary to ensure that Nauru's justice system meets the standards of accountability and probity required by Australian and international law. Recommendation 2 5.26 The committee recommends that the Government of Australia, in consultation with the Government of Nauru, agree on and publicly commit to a model timeframe