InBrief

The Australian Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Migration has�published Immigration Detention in Australia: A New Beginning,�the first of three such�reports.

Under its terms of reference, the committee is charged with examining:

• the criteria that should be applied in determining how long a person should be held in immigration detention;
• the criteria that should be applied in determining when a person should be released from immigration detention following health and security checks;
• options to expand the transparency and visibility of immigration detention centres;
• the preferred infrastructure options for contemporary immigration detention;
• options for the provision of detention services and detention health services across the range of current detention facilities, including immigration detention centres, immigration residential housing, immigration transit accommodation and community detention options for additional community-based alternatives to immigration detention by: a) inquiring into international experience b) considering the manner in which such alternatives may be utilised in Australia to broaden the options available within the current immigration detention framework c) comparing the cost effectiveness of these alternatives with current options.

2 December 2008