He says he opposes calls from other Labor M-Ps to introduce a time limit on how long asylum seekers can be held in Australia’s offshore detention centres.
Mr Albanese voted against boat turnback at Labor's 2015 national conference where the issue was heavily debated.
But Mr Albanese has told Sky News, he now realises that was an error.
"What we know now is that the government's policies have stopped the boats. That they're not coming and so the circumstances of rejecting boat arrivals has been achieved and the truth is that I have said many times before that we got some things wrong."
It comes amid speculation Mr Albanese could challenge Labor leader Bill Shorten if Labor's factions feel the party is going backwards ahead of the next federal election.
Mr Albanese says there is no challenge planned.
