Systemic failures lead to surge in wrongful detentions

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 07:32 · Archive

Thirty Australian citizens were wrongfully detained by the Department of Home Affairs in 2024/25, marking the largest spike since monitoring began in 2005.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman released a report on Wednesday revealing 30 Australians were wrongfully held in immigration detention by the Department of Home Affairs in 2024/25. This marked the largest spike in cases linked to communication failures since the ombudsman began monitoring the issue in 2005. Commonwealth Ombudsman Iain Anderson said: 'Wrongfully depriving a person of their liberty is serious. Since we began monitoring the issue in 2005, we have observed the same types of errors causing people to be wrongfully detained.'

Most wrongful detention cases resulted from errors previously known to the department that could have been avoided if existing policies and procedures had been properly followed. One case, referred to as Mx B, involved an Australian citizen unlawfully detained for 945 days between 2022 and 2025. During detention, Mx B claimed to be a citizen on multiple occasions, but three citizenship checks by the department failed to confirm this. A fourth assessment finally confirmed Mx B was an Australian citizen, having acquired citizenship on their tenth birthday.

The citizen was released before the citizenship assessment that confirmed their status was completed in April 2025. An internal review into the matter was launched in June 2025, with a report on the outcome expected, though the ombudsman had yet to determine the status of the review as of January 2026.

How it is being reported

• Bungles behind surge in wrongful detention of AussiesSystemic failures within the Department of Home Affairs are resulting in the wrongful detention of Australian citizens.Perth Now · 14 Oct, 07:19
• Bungles behind surge in wrongful detention of AussiesSystemic failures within the Department of Home Affairs are resulting in the wrongful detention of Australian citizens.The West Australian · 14 Oct, 07:19

In this story: Department of Home Affairs · Commonwealth Ombudsman · Iain Anderson · Australia

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