described the lack of continued government support for released individuals as leaving charities to effectively fill the gap in the longer term. The essential role played by community volunteers in ensuring that individual detainees (particularly amongst the earlier releases) had accommodation and support available to them when initially released deserves to be acknowledged. This should not, however, detract from the fact that providing this initial support should ultimately be the responsibility of the Department. The Department has a duty of care towards individuals who have been detained for significant periods of time under the Department’s authority, have never previously lived in Australia outside of a detention facility, are known to be particularly vulnerable, and are then released with both little warning and insufficient supports in place. Individuals described being released with very little notice or preparation, and reported being confused and anxious about what they were meant to do and how they would manage their basic needs upon release. Among the earlier releases in particular, the Commission was told of individuals being released with insufficient supplies of ongoing medications, and without a clear plan in place to ensure continuity of care. In one case, an individual had been unable to retrieve their prescription glasses before being released from detention. Individuals described having little or no opportunity to speak to other detainees before leaving the hotel APODs, and a number described feeling guilt at having to leave other detainees behind. Legal representatives and migration agents consistently said that they were not notified until after their clients had been released, which meant they were unable to assist by making any arrangements to ensure continuity of care immediately following release. The Commission understands that notification procedures did improve over time, however the description by the Department of the release processes ‘all working like clockwork’ stood in stark contrast to the information provided by both detainees and the community service providers with direct experience of those releases. RECOMMENDATION 20: The Department should review its policies and procedures with respect to releases from detention, with a view to ensuring that releases are done in a way that ensures individuals are able to immediately access essential support and services upon release. RECOMMENDATION 21: Processes should be put in place to ensure that legal representatives and migration agents are routinely notified of the release of their clients before the release occurs or, if that is not possible, immediately thereafter. The Use of Hotels as Alternative Places of Detention (APODs) • 2023 • 51