A damning cache of internal documents obtained by Guardian Australia shows that violence, drug overdoses and fires continue to plague the country’s on-shore immigration detention centres despite repeated warnings from the federal work-health-and-safety regulator, Comcare. The leaks, published on 9 October, focus on two high-risk facilities run by Secure Journeys – the Australian subsidiary of US prison giant Management & Training Corporation – under a $2.3 billion contract awarded in late 2024. At Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre (MIDC) Comcare reports a string of assaults culminating in an 18 August mass brawl that left six detainees hospitalised with stabbing injuries from improvised weapons. On 10 September a resident was revived with Naloxone after an opioid overdose. In Sydney’s Villawood facility, eight separate fires were lit between February and May, raising questions about staffing levels and emergency-response training. Comcare’s provisional improvement notices accuse the Department of Home Affairs of likely breaching section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act by failing to ensure the safety of staff and detainees “so far as is reasonably practicable”. The regulator says the department has not demonstrated that existing controls are effective in mitigating violence, aggression or the presence of illicit weapons and drugs. The United Workers Union, which represents detention staff, says the findings confirm ground-level reports of chronic under-staffing and poor training since MTC took over operations. “Our members are being asked to run these centres on a shoestring while bearing the brunt of violent incidents that could be prevented with adequate resources,” national president Lyndal Ryan told the Guardian. For global-mobility teams the revelations matter because detention facilities also hold foreign nationals whose visas have been cancelled on character grounds or who have overstayed. Prolonged WHS failings increase legal risk for sponsors who may need to visit or liaise with detainees during appeals. Employers should remind international staff of visa-compliance obligations and ensure they have access to reputable migration advice to avoid detention pathways.
Source: The Guardian
