Australia's Safety Regulator Warns Canberra Over Detention Centre Violence and Fires
Australia's workplace safety regulator says the Department of Home Affairs is failing to control rising violence, fires and drug-related incidents in onshore immigration detention centres.
Comcare told Home Affairs it had a reasonable belief the department is breaching section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act by "failing to ensure health and safety of workers and others." That is the law that requires employers to protect workers and other people. The warning covered the Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre and the wider network, according to reporting published on 9 October 2026 The Guardian.
The centres are run by Management and Training Corporation (MTC), a United States private prison company also used by Donald Trump to hold ICE detainees. MTC won a $2.3 billion contract to run Australia's onshore centres in late 2024 and operates locally through its subsidiary Secure Journeys. On 25 May 2026, The Guardian reported in an exclusive that the ICE-linked operator had been blamed for catastrophic security failures.
At Villawood immigration detention centre in Sydney, eight fire-related incidents occurred between February and May. Comcare found the department had not carried out its own systematic review of all fire and smoke control measures within its influence or control at the site. On 23 September 2025, MTC staff entered a detainee's burning room at Villawood without proper safety equipment. Two workers were hospitalised as a result.
At the Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre, three recent cases have received close attention. On 18 August, a violent altercation between two groups left six detainees in hospital with slashing and stabbing injuries from improvised weapons. On 10 September, a detainee was found overdosed in his room and staff gave Naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. On the morning of Friday 10 July 2026, a detainee was found deceased at the same centre Australian Border Force.
The federal government has imposed financial penalties on MTC and Secure Journeys over performance. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke held a meeting with MTC's global president about detention centre performance.
The broader context here is who answers when detention is outsourced. Canberra keeps the legal duty for health and safety, including for contractors and detainees, while day-to-day control sits with a foreign-headquartered provider working in two immigration systems. It is like a landlord who keeps legal responsibility while a hired manager holds the keys. The regulator speaks to the department. The department fines the contractor. Risk stays inside the centres.
Looking ahead for policymakers, three questions will shape what happens next. First, whether Comcare moves from warning to enforcement if incident rates do not fall. Second, whether financial penalties change staffing, searches, contraband control and fire safety at Villawood and Melbourne. Third, whether talks with MTC's global leadership change local practice at Secure Journeys, or lead to further action on the contract.
