Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre

After ongoing public pressure in response to several well publicised riots from 2000, accusations of human rights abuses, and capacity issues, the centre closed in April 2003.

ACM was criticised over various practices, including failing to staff the Centre adequately, and concealing evidence of child abuse.

Towards the end of the 1990s, a large increase in the number of unauthorised arrivals exceeded the capacity of the existing Immigration Reception and Processing Centres at Port Hedland and Curtin.

The former, and at that time unused, 'Woomera West Construction Camp' was converted into an immigration detention facility in 1999, and the Woomera IRPC was opened to accommodate this increase.

Nursing and administrative staff working there at the time complained that facilities were totally inadequate, and that it was impossible to provide proper medical care.

This resulted in psychological problems for staff including post-traumatic stress, marriage breakdowns, and in some cases, suicide attempts.

Mary Robinson the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was first denied access to the Woomera IRPC but later the Australian Government yielded to pressure.

A 2004 Liberal Party election policy document stated: The centre is the subject of a video game, Escape From Woomera, an unfinished point-and-click 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.

[5] It is also the subject of a play, Woomera, which tells the story of Justin, a young prison guard recently arrived at the detention centre.