UN inspectors have again been blocked from visiting Australian detention centres, leaving Australia as the only nation on earth that has refused access.
The CLP government in Northern Territory has refused the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention inspectors access to NT detention facilities again despite Federal Government assurances that all states and territories would cooperate.
This is the second failed attempt by UN inspectors to access prisons and watchhouses in Australia to check for torture-like conditions with the previous visit embarrassingly aborted in 2022 after they were denied full access in NSW and Queensland.
After the failed visit by the torture inspectors in 2022 we asked in November that year what the federal Labor government had done to ensure access to all states and territories – at that stage they assured us they had written letters to all jurisdictions.
We have continued to follow this up multiple times since including in Senate Estimates. As recently as November 2025 Labor assured us:
“The Australian Government continues to work with states and territories to support the implementation of Australia’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)… (and) the Commonwealth continues to engage in a constructive dialogue with the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to support Australia’s OPCAT implementation”.
They appear to have dropped the ball on this visit however.
Greens Senator and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge:
“The Federal Government promised in November 2022 they had written to all jurisdictions to ensure access to UN inspectors. Three years later, those promises ring hollow.
“As recently as November 2025, the Commonwealth assured us they were working with states and territories and engaging in “constructive dialogue” with the UN. Whatever the Federal Labor government has done has not worked, and the inspectors have again been denied entry.
“Three years of letters, meetings, and “constructive dialogue” have produced nothing but broken promises and blocked access. This is a failure of national leadership.
“The NT Ombudsman’s recent report exposed appalling conditions in the territory’s detention facilities that would clearly raise the interest of the UN inspectors.
“We know why the NT government won’t let UN inspectors in, but why is the Federal Government again providing them political cover?
“The Commonwealth funds 80% of the Northern Territory government budget, including its brutal jails. If they’re funding it, they should demand to open it. If they won’t they should cut off funding to these torture factories.
“You can’t bankroll a system and then claim you have no power to demand accountability.
“This isn’t just a failure of transparency like we see time and again under this Government, it’s also a failure to uphold Australia’s international human rights obligations under international laws.
Kat McNamara, NT MLA:
“We know that the CLP Government is attempting to hide the ongoing human rights abuses that are occurring in NT prisons, this secrecy cannot be accepted.”
“The Minister for Corrections claimed that he welcomed the Ombudsman’s damning report into NT watch houses and yet are blocking attempts for transparency and accountability.”
“The CLP Government cannot be trusted with our prison systems, they have repeatedly told the public that they do not care about the rights of detainees. The Federal Government must intervene now.”
“The only reason you would deny access to a UN body investigating torture and other inhumane treatment in your facilities is because you know that these human rights abuses are occurring.”