PRIVATE CONTRACTORS AT ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE PROCESSING CENTRES

 

The Australian Government contracts several private companies to run detention centres onshore in Australia, and offshore at asylum seeker regional processing centres on Manus Island and Nauru.

In recent years these companies have been the subject of allegations of misconduct and abuse. There have been detailed government investigations into private contractor conduct and processes with regard to asylum seekers and refugees. This explainer provides a brief overview of the private companies contracted by the Australian government in recent years:  Canstruct, Paladin and Serco, and some of the key reports into their management of detention centres.

Canstruct

Canstruct is a Queensland-based construction company. It was contracted by the Australian Government in September 2017 to run garrison and welfare services for refugees in Nauru. Canstruct replaced Broadspectrum in 2017 and was paid over $1 million per day for 12 months for the detention of 1000 refugees.

The UNHCR reported worsening conditions in 2018, resulting in more refugees and asylum-seekers needing medical evacuation to Australia in September 2018 than in the previous two years combined.

In February 2021, the Australian Government extended Canstruct’s contract. Canstruct now receives $221 million until 30 June 2021, or $10,000 a day for each asylum seeker on Nauru. This brings Canstruct’s total earnings since September 2017 to $1.4 billion, though the number of refugees in Nauru has decreased to less than 120. This decrease occurred as a result of emergency medical transfers to Australia and the resettlement of refugees as part of the US-Australia refugee deal.

Paladin

Paladin is an Australian company providing security and project support services. The tender process by which it received its contract for providing garrison support and welfare services on Manus Island became known as the ‘Paladin Affair’. Paladin contractors operated on Manus Island for over eight months under Letters of Intent prior to formalising their contract for services with the Australian Government.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) entered into a contract with Paladin for garrison support and welfare services for the regional processing centre in Manus Island. The contract was granted through a limited tender process after the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government did not take over the management of the centre as originally planned. This was after Paladin was assessed as a high-risk entity as it had little experience in operating a detention facility. DHA paid Paladin $5.5 million before it had provided any services, and a further $89 million before a formal contract had been signed.

In late 2017, Paladin reported that a Papua New Guinea (PNG) official made a demand for payment of $15,000 for providing visas for Paladin staff. The Auditor-General later noted the heightened risk of fraud and corruption in procuring services in PNG.

Between May 2018 and October 2019, Paladin was fined 5,484 times with penalties upwards of $5.8 million for performance failures. In 2019, substantial evidence of some staff abusing detainees, including children, came to light. Over 70 detainees also reported suicide attempts or incidents of self-harm.

The regional processing centre in Manus Island was demobilised due to pressure from the PNG government. The Auditor-General criticised the DHA for its management of what had become a $532 million contract with Paladin. 

Serco

Serco is a British company. It is currently contracted by the Australian Government to run the detention centre on Christmas Island and three onshore detention centres in Australia. Since late 2020, some 225 people including 60 refugees were detained in Christmas Island at a cost of $790m per year.

The Australia Government in 2020 reopened the centre on Christmas Island for detainees (not necessarily refugees or asylum seekers) who have been convicted of crimes involving assault, sexual offences, drugs and other violent offences. The government’s ability to remove migrants whose visas were cancelled on character grounds (unlawful non-citizens) from Australia, had been curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Serco has received sustained criticism, particularly for its management of the  centre on Christmas Island. In late 2020, CCTV footage showed a detainee being subdued by use of excessive force by five Serco guards. Media investigations alleged abuse and mistreatment, prison-like conditions and a militarised approach to rising tensions within detention facilities managed by Serco.

Riots on Christmas Island in early 2021 saw two compounds set alight, and the use of rubber bullets and tear gas. The riots were the culmination of a number of factors. These include a failure in distributing medicines urgently required by detainees with serious physical and mental illnesses; a failure in restoring internet and mobile phone access; and distance from family and other visitors since being removed from onshore detention facilities in Australia.

Government reports

The Monitoring Immigration Detention report summarised the findings of the Commonwealth Ombudsman following its oversight of onshore immigration detention in Australia. The 2019 report outlined improvements in areas like the provision of welfare services to transport and escort tasks within alternative places of detention, however, raised concerns about shortfalls in privacy, mobility access, the management of complaints, use of restraints, security risk assessments and the use of force in detention facilities.

The 2017 Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee report investigated conditions at the Nauru and Manus Island regional processing centres and the serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers.

The 2020 Auditor-General’s Performance Audit report reviewed the department's management of offshore garrison support and welfare contracts, finding it to be ‘largely appropriate’ and contractor performance reporting and monitoring to be ‘partly adequate’. These investigations followed on the heels of a series of significant reports and findings, including those found in the Moss Review and the Forgotten Children report.

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Last updated 04 April 2021