Use of operational quarantine The first days of detention can be a stressful experience, particularly for women. For example, the Office of the Custodial Inspector Tasmania conducted a survey on the experience of 46 women entering the Mary Hutchinson Women's Prison and found that the majority (65%) had feelings of depression, 39% were suffering from mental health issues and 30% were experiencing drug and alcohol issues.85 Another study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, surveying 117 women entering prison, found 52% of them reported experiencing high to very high levels of psychological distress on entry.86 This distress, also faced by new arrivals to immigration detention, is often compounded by having served a custodial sentence prior to detention. In their interviews with women in prison facing deportation, Metha et al (2023) found that, ‘the uncertainty around deportation processes, timelines and the risks associated with going back to the home country, preoccupied them throughout their prison term’.87 One of the submissions received by the Commission also observed that, ‘[f]ear and stress when leaving prison and entering detention remain a factor all women face if their case has not been finally determined by Home Affairs’. The heightened distress faced by women entering immigration detention is further exacerbated by being subjected to a period of operational quarantine (separation from the main population) when first detained as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The mental health and wellbeing pressures of the requirement to quarantine are well known. The National Review of Hotel Quarantine for example found that ‘the pressures on mental health and wellbeing during hotel quarantine is arguably one of most important considerations in the hotel quarantine system, as even those who have not previously experienced mental ill-health may find the experience taxing.’88 The National Review of Quarantine likewise ‘heard from several individuals about how their experience of 14 days hotel quarantine had a significant impact on their mental health.’89 The Department advised the Commission that operational quarantine was in place for a period of up to 5 days as a matter of course across all immigration detention facilities in Australia and is required even when a detainee ‘does not have symptoms that may be associated with COVID-19 but needs to be quarantined from other detainees as they may have been exposed to COVID-19 and require review and testing (with consent) before being accommodated in the general population’.90 The Department also advised the Commission that the continuation of operational quarantine was ‘based on advice from the Department’s Clinical Advisory Team, the Department’s Detention Health Services Provider (DHSP), the Department of Health and the Communicable Diseases Network Australia National Guidelines for COVID-19 Outbreaks in Correctional and Detention Facilities’.91 The Communicable Diseases Network Australia Guidelines recognise that ‘[d]etainees in isolation and quarantine face risks to their mental health’.92 They also state that new intakes or transfers should only be subject to quarantine ‘for the period specified by the state or territory authority.’93 The Commission accepts that operational quarantine will be necessary in some circumstances—such as where there is an elevated risk of community transmission and acknowledges that detention environments ‘are challenging environments and carry additional risk for COVID-19 seeding and transmission and outbreak management, compared with the wider community.’94 However, the Department’s continued use of operational quarantine is out of step with the practices currently in place in state and territory correctional facilities across Australia. The New South Wales Inspector of Custodial Services for example reported that ‘[i]n March 2023, the quarantining of new reception inmates ceased entirely.’95 Corrective Services New South Wales now only requires new entrants to undertake an entry Rapid Antigen Screening (RAS) test and isolation only occurs if a person ‘develops cold or flu like symptoms’.96 Corrections Victoria likewise requires new entrants to undertake a RAS test and they are only subjected to 5 days of isolation if they either return a positive result or refuse to be tested.97 The Commonwealth Ombudsman has expressed concern about the continued use of operational quarantine and other COVID-19 measures stating they are ‘in stark contrast to community settings, which had moved on from the need to isolate or maintain social distancing’.98 The Commission agrees with the Commonwealth Ombudsman and also notes that the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee affirmed in October 2023 that ‘Australia has shifted to managing COVID-19 consistent with other common communicable diseases’.99 26 Not just an afterthoughtThe experience of women in immigration detention