The Minister’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention is there to provide independent immigration advice to Peter Dutton but has been vacant since 2014

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A peak immigration council set up to advise the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, on asylum seeker policies has been vacant for five months without any appointments made.

The Minister’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention is a body set up by the previous Labor government in September 2009. It was supposed to provide independent advice to the immigration minister on “policies, processes, services and programs” for asylum seekers and those held in immigration detention.

But the entire council has been vacant since December 2014, when the terms of the members ended.

The organisation will be reworked with a “new composition” by the federal government. A spokeswoman from the immigration department said: “The Minister’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention’s (MCASD) previous term expired late last year on 28 December, 2014. The government is working on relaunching the council.”

“The announcement of a new council and its composition will occur shortly.”

The council was vacant at the time when a review led by Philip Moss substantiated some allegations of sexual assault on Nauru.

The council is a peak body and used to feature prominent figures involved in the immigration sector, including Paris Aristotle, Air Marshal Ray Funnell, Kerrin Benson, Caz Coleman, Noel Clement, Jamal Rifi, Nicholas Procter and several other members.

The opposition spokesman on immigration, Richard Marles, said: “This government has never been big on consultation or transparency. From the outset it’s been their way or the highway. Nothing highlights this more than the fact the Minister’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention has been vacant since the end of last year.”



Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said: “It is hardly surprising that this government has refused to reappoint members of the advisory council, they are averse to receiving independent advice.

“The culture of secrecy has infiltrated all corners of the immigration detention system; this is just another attempt by the government to cover their tracks.



“Transparency has hardly been this government’s strong suit, particularly when it comes to dealing with the lives of asylum seekers and refugees.”

The role of oversight boards relating to immigration detention has been previously diminished by the Coalition government.

In December the Detention Health Advisory Group, which advised the immigration minister on health issues in immigration detention, was disbanded by the then immigration minister, Scott Morrison, sparking concerns about the oversight of health practices in detention centres.