Refugee Council of Australia
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Statistics on people in detention in Australia

Number of people in detention in Australia

Detention facilities

The following statistics focus on detention in Australia. There are different kinds of places where people are detained, known as Immigration Detention Centres (IDCs), Immigration Transit Accommodation (ITAs), and Alternative Places of Detention (APODs).

As of 28 February 2023, there were 1,099 people in detention facilities. This included 1,050 men and approximately 47 women.

The monthly statistics only show how many people are in detention at a point in time (at the end of each month). However, an answer to a question on notice in April 2019 showed that the total number of people detained over a year is very high. For example close to 10,000 people were detained in the financial year 2017-18.

Change over time

There has been significant change in the number of people detained in the past ten years. The current figure is a significant decrease from the peak of 10,201 in July 2013. However, it is high when compared to 375 in January 2009.

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