Escape from Woomera is an unfinished adventure video game, intended to criticise the treatment of mandatorily detained asylum seekers in Australia as well as the Australian government's attempt to impose a media blackout on the detention centres.

In the game, the player assumes the role of Mustafa, an Iranian asylum seeker being held at Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre.

Mustafa's request for asylum has been denied, and, fearing that he will be killed by the Iranian government upon his repatriation to Iran, he decides to attempt to escape Woomera.

The Australia Council's decision to fund the game drew condemnation from both Minister for Immigration Philip Ruddock and Australian Human Rights Commission leader Dr. Sev Ozdowski.

After the boat transporting him crashed in the Ashmore Reef, Mustafa was brought to the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, where he was given the identification number "RAR-124".

[2][3] Other interactions during the playable section include speaking with a detainee who, after complaining that a guard threw her copy of the Quran to the ground, mentions the existence of a partially built tunnel from a previous escape attempt.

[2][5][6] The idea for a video game centred on asylum seekers in Australia came to Katharine Neil, then a developer at Atari's Melbourne studio, in the aftermath of the 2001 Tampa affair.

The team utilised interviews with former detainees and activists, existing press reports, and a copy of the facility's floor plan obtained from a member of the Department of Immigration.

[7][8][12] Kate Wild, an investigative journalist hired by the development team to conduct research, was able to visit Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre.

[12] Kate Wild, in a 2013 interview, recalled that she was surprised at how strongly Ruddock attacked the game, a reaction she attributed to the government being sensitive over the issue of detainee treatment.

[8] The leader of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Dr. Sev Ozdowski, released a strongly worded statement accusing the game of misconstruing asylum seekers as criminals, and saying that "The idea of using issues in detention for entertainment is simply sick.

"[15] Chairman Michael Snelling of the New Media Arts Board, the branch of the Australia Council that granted the development money, defended the decision to fund Escape from Woomera, stating that the game's purpose was not to promote crime.