The first of the Australian Government's seven key immigration detention values says, “Mandatory detention is an essential component of strong border control.” However, the Government should abandon its mandatory immigration detention policy. It is exorbitantly expensive, ineffective and inhumane. "The cost of onshore processing is just the tip of the ice-burg. While the Government has never been upfront about the real costs of off-shore processing, we know that Christmas Island alone costs more than $1 billion over the forward estimates," says the Greens Immigration Spokesperson, Senator Hanson-Young. "It's absurd that the Government is spending this kind of money on a policy that isn't working and simply serves to compound the trauma of vulnerable people. Not only are asylum seekers detained as the first resort, they are also in some cases, detained indefinitely”, as is the current situation at the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, the facilities and services of which are under increasing pressure due to overcrowding. The Commonwealth Ombudsman recommends the government expedites “the movement of detainees to the Australian mainland so as to address overcrowding, as well as the need to address the shortage of facilities and services, in particular mental health services”. The harmful and negative impact on the mental health of asylum seeker indefinitely detained in immigration detention centres is well documented. Depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders and associated impairment of cognition and memory are common among detainees. This is a product of the detention environment, along with prolonged detention with uncertain outcomes, which is compounded by various risk factors such as asylum seekers having torture and trauma histories. The Commonwealth Ombudsman also recommends that Government assesses how those detainees who have received a positive Refugee Status Assessment might be released from immigration detention on Christmas Island. He suggests one way could include placing the person, especially if a child, in community-based alternatives on the Australian mainland subject to reporting conditions. A similar strategy could also be employed for detainees in similar circumstances detained on the mainland. Aside from the known positive benefits to asylum seekers associated with not being incarcerated in an IDC, a 2006 international survey by UNHCR found that community-based alternatives are almost always less expensive for host governments than high security IDCs. "In times when new demands are being made on the federal budget, this is money that could be better spent else where. We know housing asylum seekers in the community, is not only less expensive, but it's also a much more humane environment. "The Government should thoroughly investigate community housing for asylum seekers and cost this measure. Costings will show this to be the more affordable option” says Senator Hanson-Young. Community-based alternatives are cost-effective options to the current regime and are consistent with a robust and enforceable system. We therefore call upon the Australian Government to immediately: abolish its mandatory immigration detention policy; and, move detainees into community-based alternatives to immigration detention.

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