Australian Watchdog Flags Persistent Failures in Treatment of Detained Women

Sydney — Women held at Australia's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre continue to face barriers to healthcare, personal safety and access to information, a follow-up human rights inspection has found, raising fresh concerns about whether reforms to the detention system are delivering adequate protection.

The Australian Human Rights Commission's latest assessment found that significant problems identified during its 2024 inspection had not been resolved, despite some improvements to conditions at the Sydney facility.

Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, who led the follow-up inspection, said the system continued to fall short of women's needs, leaving detainees facing uncertainty and limited control over their lives.

The findings highlight concerns about prolonged detention, mental health support, staff capacity, restrictions on movement and incidents affecting the safety of women in custody.

Inspectors also raised questions about food quality, escort arrangements and difficulties recruiting and retaining suitably experienced detention staff.

Progress on gender-sensitive training, communication and guidance for transgender and gender-diverse detainees was either incomplete or difficult to establish.

The commission found that some changes had reduced previously identified risks, including improvements to the accommodation arrangements for women.

Inspectors also observed positive leadership and efforts by staff at Villawood to improve conditions.

These changes, however, had not addressed many of the wider problems identified in the earlier inspection.

“The improvements made since our 2024 inspection matter, and we recognise the efforts of staff working within a challenging environment,” Commissioner Finlay said.

“But the current conditions are not adequate. Every woman in detention deserves to be treated with dignity, respect and humanity," she said.

The commission's report, Not just an afterthought revisited: Follow-up inspection of women in immigration detention at Villawood IDC, sets out 10 recommendations intended to address shortcomings and strengthen protections.

The proposed measures include better monitoring of earlier recommendations, more appropriate staff training, improved mental health services, clearer communication with detainees and more effective processes for resolving immigration status.

The commission is also calling for greater use of alternatives to closed detention, an issue with direct implications for women who remain in custody while their immigration circumstances are unresolved.

The Department of Home Affairs accepted eight recommendations and partially accepted the other two.

The responses indicate broad agreement with the proposed measures, although partial acceptance leaves questions about how the remaining recommendations will be implemented.

The report does not suggest that all conditions have remained unchanged since 2024.

Instead, it identifies a gap between improvements in some areas and the wider reforms still needed to ensure women's specific needs are adequately addressed.

The commission said it wanted to work with the government and relevant agencies to secure lasting changes to detention conditions.