New processing system aims to improve behaviour of detainees

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Tony Abbott is refusing to accept blame for the government’s decision to abandon offshore processing.




Julia Gillard has conceded the government can’t implement its controversial Malaysian people swap deal.







IMMIGRATION authorities are scrambling to put in place new asylum-seeker processing arrangements that are expected to see most new arrivals out of detention within a month.


The move comes amid predictions of a rise on boat arrivals following Labor’s decision to abandon offshore processing and soften the treatment of asylum-seekers who arrive by sea.

Despite an ongoing commitment to mandatory detention, the Gillard government intends to “draw down” on detainee numbers.

Details are still being worked through but The Australian Online has learned that boatpeople seen to be on a “positive pathway” to refugee status will be fast-tracked into the community shortly after they arrive.

They will be detained for a short period for health, security and identity checks before being released on bridging visas.

The new arrangements are expected to reap significant savings, with the cost of detention put by Immigration Minister Chris Bowen today at more than $100,000 per person per year.

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The government is yet to decide on the duration of bridging visas to be offered to asylum-seekers, but 90-day visas are currently used for asylum-seekers who arrive by air.

The system, said to be a “work in progress”, will result in a considerable shift in resources from remote locations as the processing and case-management workload moves to the major cities.

Those seen as unlikely to receive refugee visas will remain in detention.

Asylum-seekers with a record of bad behaviour or heightened health requirements, such as those who have experienced trauma, would be processed within the detention network.

It’s hoped the new approach will result in a dramatic improvement of self-harm episodes in detention centres.

The new system is also expected to improve behaviour more broadly within detention centres, with the prospect of release into the community providing a “strong incentive” to improve behaviour.

Asylum-seekers released into the community will be housed with family members or friends – if they have any in Australia.

Others will have to rely on the private rental market or non-government organisations, which could be in line for a funding boost to cope with extra demand.

Those on bridging visas will receive work rights and welfare support worth 89 per cent of normal unemployment benefits.

Mr Bowen set out the broad details of the plan on the ABC’s Lateline program last night.

“What I’m saying is … there will be mandatory detention for health, identity and security checks,” he said.

“What I’m saying is there will then be a case-by-case approach to individuals.

“And what you would see is clearly the sorts of things we consider are: length of time in detention; torture and trauma; whether they’re on what my department would call a “positive pathway”; their behaviour in detention; and you could see appropriate decisions made about moving people into the community.”

 

 

 

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