Recommendation 248
- Department of Home Affairs
It remains the Australian Government's position that children should not be held in immigration detention centres where possible, but should be accommodated in alternative places of detention or in the community under a residence determination. Australia will continue to develop and enhance its policies and procedures to support the protection of children in immigration pathways, promote their welfare, and treat their best interests as a primary consideration.
In October 2016, the Department of Home Affairs released its Child Safeguarding Framework, which outlines the principles, policies and procedures to safeguard the wellbeing of children receiving immigration services. The framework is designed to be applied flexibly across the different departmental programmes and services, and to complement the range of existing policies and procedural frameworks.
The Child Safeguarding Framework is the blueprint for how the Department of Home Affairs continues to build and strengthen its policies, processes and systems to protect children in the delivery of all relevant departmental programmes and to maintain a child's wellbeing to assist them to meet age appropriate milestones.