Outsourcing responsibility: a case study of Australias practice of outsourcing immigration detention centres

Abstract

Privatisation processes, including outsourcing arrangements are altering the very conception of governance. The drive to privatise is advocated as streamlining governance, by making it more cost efficient, creating more choice and encouraging competition. However, other voices warn that privatisation and outsourcing leads to a lack of transparency and accountability which ultimately fosters environments conducive to violating human rights. Since the inception of private actors gaining control of Immigration Detention Centres in Australia, there has been consistent calls for the State to retake control and management. In 2009 the Australian government claimed that it was not in a position to return Immigration Detention Centres to State control, due to the inability of the public sector to provide detention services. Also it was claimed that the State would be to exposured to compensation claims by private actors who had already commenced tendering to provide immigration services. This raises concerning questions about the government's capacity to protect asylum seekers and whether the State has become overly reliant on the private sector to provide governmental functions. This thesis focuses on outsourcing arrangements regarding Immigration Detention Centres involving Australia, within Australian and extraterritorially and seeks establish as to whether the State can be attributed responsibility for the actions of private actors and International Organisations.