Perspectives of Senior Management on Applying Human Rights in Closed Environments

Abstract

In 2008 the Law Faculty at Monash University was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant to examine the application of human rights in a range of closed environments. A ‘closed environment’ was defined for this project, in line with the OPCAT definition, as ‘any place where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty by means of placement in a public or private setting in which a person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other order, or by any other lawful authority relevant to the project's goals.’ The specific settings addressed were prisons, police cells, forensic psychiatric institutions, closed mental health and disability units, and immigration detention. The aim of the research project has been to understand how closed environments incorporate human rights considerations in managing the conditions and treatment of persons held in these facilities. Findings are being published in various contexts. This paper reports the views of senior management and senior policy makers in government in Victoria and Western Australia. In order to understand how human rights are addressed at the facility level, it is important to understand how policies and operational procedures are set by senior management. Implementation of human rights at the front line will reflect how senior management perceives human rights, in terms of priority and of their perceived relevance to operating the closed facility.