Issues and concerns impacting women across the detention network Detention as a last resort The negative impacts of prolonged immigration detention are well known and have been highlighted by the Commission on numerous occasions.63 The Commission has stated that ‘[p]rolonged closed detention is a risk factor for mental ill-health, as the negative impacts of immigration detention on mental health tend to worsen as the length of detention increases’.64 With regard to the particular experience of women, Rivas (2022) found that ‘the longer women were detained, the more likely they were to have experienced any health issues and also to have experienced multiple wellbeing issues, including physical injuries and illnesses, acute medical symptoms, social life and relationship issues, as well as abuse and assault’.65 The Commission’s interviews with women in detention broadly support this finding. Many of the women acknowledged a direct correlation between the length of their detention and negative impacts upon their wellbeing, health, and social relationships. For example, one woman said, ‘the longer the time the more anxious I am and the more it’s affecting my family’. Another speaking about the prospect of release after her prolonged detention wondered, ‘how different am I going to be in a room with my family again? How much more scared am I going to be of the world?’. Another speaking about the impacts of not knowing when and if she would be released said, ‘[t]here are people who are just stuck here. That is scary. I have family waiting for me, this is really affecting my parents. My mum especially. It is inhumane to do this to somebody, it is emotional torture’. The immigration detention population includes women with a range of risk profiles, many of whom would not appear to present any identifiable risk to community safety if they were released. Even among the section 501 cohort, which make up a large proportion of the women, there is a wide variation in the types of offences leading to a visa refusal or cancellation, and consequent detention. Statistics provided by the Department through Senate Estimates reveal that between 22 May 2022 to 31 October 2023, 46.1% of the 869 cancellations under section 501 (for both men and women) related to nonviolent and non-sexual offending.66 During the same period, non-violent and non-sexual offending as the reason for cancellation accounted for 61.4% of the total number of revocation decisions.67 Where a person has no history of violent offending or sexual offending, it is less likely that a highly restrictive measure such as closed detention would be necessary. These statistics support that proposition. Women within the section 501 cohort expressed a perceived sense of injustice at being detained following completion of their custodial sentences, and often for much longer periods than their custodial sentence. One woman described her experience, ‘like torturous punishment and I don’t deserve it. I paid for my crime in jail’. Another woman speaking of her custodial incarceration and immigration detention said, ‘I’ve been locked up 4 years now and I don’t think any judge would say 4 years is reflective of the crime I committed. I don’t think even the maximum penalty for my crime is 4 years’. The UN SPT, following its visit to Australia in 2022, noted ‘those subject to visa cancellation as a result of past criminal convictions find themselves in immigration detention facilities only after having completed their criminal sentences, thus being subjected to secondary and accessory forms of punishment that Australian citizens would not face’.68 As set out above, the Commission has consistently advocated for closed immigration detention to be limited to circumstances where it is strictly necessary to manage unacceptable risks to the community.69 In relation to women in immigration detention, the UN CEDAW Committee has also recommended that State Parties: Use administrative detention only exceptionally, as a last resort, for a limited time, when necessary and reasonable in the individual case, proportionate to a legitimate purpose and in accordance with national law and international standards.70 Issues and concerns impacting women across the detention network 21