This report is part of the Ombudsman's ongoing own motion investigation into instances where the Australian Government's Department of Home Affairs detained people it suspected to be unlawful non-citizens, but later identified they were not unlawful and released them from detention. It covers 11 cases of wrongful detention the Department identified between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, including the wrongful detention of an Australian citizen. In one case, the person was wrongfully detained for one year and six months. 

The issue seemingly lies not in what tools or frameworks exist, but in how they are applied. The report provides three recommendations.

Key findings

• Since the Ombudsman began monitoring the issue in 2005, it has observed the same types of errors are causing people to be wrongfully detained.
• The Department has not improved the way it addresses its mistakes with the individuals it has wrongfully detained.
• The Department does not offer people it has wrongfully detained any form of redress, formal apology or financial compensation.
• Although the Department may identify and acknowledge the mistake to the individual, the onus is on the individual to navigate the complex and often costly process of lodging a civil claim to seek damages for unlawful detention through the judicial system.
• Because affected individuals are only informed verbally that an error has occurred on their release, they may not be aware of their ability to make such a claim or have access to the information required to support it.