Australian Refugee Rights Alliance- Exporting the “Australian model” – Creating a new international norm on interception, refoulement and the prospects for effective protection
Although maintaining its adherence to a policy of mandatory and potentially indefinite detention for asylum-seekers, Australia has attempted to implement new policies to ameliorate some of the worst aspects of onshore detention. These reforms include the introduction of time limits on case processing, more comprehensive mental health services and independent oversight of the cases of people who have spent more than two years in immigration detention centres. The overriding principle guiding these reforms is to limit the number of people held within detention centres and reduce the time spent in detention.
