Australia's indefinite immigration detention system to face High Court challenge

The plaintiff will argue the country's highest court should not have decided, almost 20 years ago, that detention could be indefinite.

The High Court will examine the Australian government's power to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Key Points

• The landmark legal challenge will focus on Australia's power to detain people indefinitely.
• The average period of time in which people are held in immigration detention is 708 days.
• Expert says that in practice it's often much longer than that.

The High Court will hear a landmark legal challenge today to the Australian government's power to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention.

The plaintiff will argue the country's highest court should not have decided, almost 20 years ago, that detention could be indefinite.

Currently, the average period of time in which people are held in immigration detention is 708 days.

But Josephine Langbien from the Human Rights Law Centre says that in practice it's often much longer than that.