The Justice Project has been campaigning against the mandatory detention of asylum seekers in Australia. As the Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez affairs reveal, mandatory detention in all its forms is a fundamentally flawed and harmful policy. TJP believe that that discredited policies like mandatory detention can be eradicated by upholding two key standards:

1. Decent treatment of asylum seekers

2. Fair processing

Decent Treatment

1. We want detainees to be held in detention only for as long as it takes to do health and security checks and for no longer than 30 days unless a judge agrees otherwise;

2. We support releasing detainees into the community, subject to them remaining available for processing, and if necessary, removal from Australia. In the meantime they should have a right to work and access to Medicare and other benefits.

3. We want permanent protection for all temporary protection visa holders and the unqualified abolition of temporary protection visas;

4. We want permanent protection granted to asylum seekers on humanitarian grounds when they have no realistic option of safe return;

Fair Processing

1. We want all applications for asylum processed without delay, in a fair and efficient manner with all detainees being treated humanely;

2. We want a genuinely independent tribunal to replace the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT). Members should be appropriately qualified and appointed for substantial fixed term;

3. We consider that the ability of courts to correct tribunal errors should not be restricted;

4. It is our view that the Australian government should accept full responsibility and accountability for the administration of detention centres and there should be complete disclosure of the costs, conditions and administration of these centres here and offshore.