In September 2016, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) reported on its key areas of concern in the delivery of health services in immigration detention. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection contracts with the private company International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) to provide medical and mental health services.
Among its findings, the report concluded that there was/were:
- inadequate departmental oversight of IHMS’s service delivery;
- frequent delays in the provision of care to detainees at high risk of self-harm;
- significant departmental cost-cutting, despite its potential impact on the quality of care.
The ANAO’s report is available here.