Six detainees went to hospital with "slashing and stabbing injuries made using improvised weapons" after a violent clash at the Melbourne immigration detention centre on 18 August. Weeks later, on 10 September, staff found another detainee overdosed in his room and administered Naloxone, the drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
Now the federal work safety regulator says the government itself is probably breaking the law. Internal documents show Comcare warned that the department isn't controlling rising violence, drug use and improvised weaponry at the Melbourne centre (MIDC) or across the broader detention network.
The Regulator's Warning
Comcare's notice uses blunt language. "I have formed the reasonable belief that the department is contravening section 19 of the WHS Act by failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and other persons," the regulator wrote. "In particular, the risks associated with violence, aggression, and the presence of illicit substances and improvised weaponry are not being adequately managed."
Comcare acknowledged the department had taken a range of actions. But the regulator said the department hadn't sufficiently shown that its current control measures eliminated or minimised the risks as far as reasonably practicable. The hazards, it said, pose an ongoing risk of serious harm to workers and others inside the centres.
Fires at Villawood
A separate Comcare document points to eight fire-related incidents at Villawood immigration detention centre between February and May. They followed earlier warnings to the government about gaps in the preparedness of the centre's private operator, Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
On 23 September 2025, MTC staff rushed into a detainee's room to rescue him from a fire without proper safety equipment. Two workers went to hospital.
Comcare found the department hadn't carried out its own systematic review of "all fire and smoke control measures falling within its influence or control", a likely breach of work health and safety regulations. "The occurrence of multiple notifiable fire incidents over a period of approximately four months, particularly after previous regulatory intervention concerning substantially the same risk, provided repeated and compelling circumstances requiring the department to review the effectiveness of relevant control measures," the document said.
A Contract Under Scrutiny
The problems followed MTC's win of a $2.3bn detention contract in late 2024. MTC is a US private prison company that Donald Trump has used to hold ICE detainees. Earlier this year, Guardian Australia reported catastrophic security failings across the onshore immigration network since MTC took over.
The government has tried to push the company to lift its performance, imposing financial penalties and holding a fiery meeting last year between the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, and MTC's global president. The new notices suggest those efforts haven't worked. The Guardian has also reported escapes, staff injuries and sick detainees missing medical appointments because there weren't enough staff to escort them.
Workers Say the Warnings Were Clear
Lyndal Ryan, national president of the United Workers Union, which represents workers in the centres, said the notices showed "the continuing dangerous situations facing workers and detainees inside detention centres, and Secure Journeys' inability or unwillingness to address those issues". Secure Journeys is MTC's local subsidiary.
The union has repeatedly raised concerns about understaffing. Ryan said Comcare had made clear that the department is responsible for pulling Secure Journeys into line. "The list of eight fires at Villawood over a four-month period are signs of the instability and chaos our members are witnessing almost every day," she said.
The Responses
A Secure Journeys spokesperson said the company's "commitment to maintaining safe and secure operations, as well as both staff and detainee welfare remains our top priority".
An Australian Border Force spokesperson said the agency continually reviews safety and security arrangements across the detention network. Comcare notices, the spokesperson said, are "assessed and responded to through established workplace health and safety processes". The spokesperson added that "the welfare, safety and dignity of people in immigration detention, as well as the safety of staff, remain the Department's highest priorities."
Why This Matters:
People inside these centres can't leave. They can't choose who guards them. That makes the state's duty of care absolute, whether it runs a facility itself or hands the job to a private operator. Comcare's finding that the department is likely contravening workplace safety law puts that duty in plain legal terms. Detainees are being stabbed, overdosing and facing fires, while workers meant to protect them say they're short-staffed and underequipped. The $2.3bn contract was supposed to deliver security, but financial penalties and ministerial pressure haven't fixed it. The notices raise a hard question: can outsourcing detention to a for-profit prison company, and relying on penalties to enforce standards, protect either group?