In 2010, a man was sentenced to five years in prison, to be served in a maximum security prison in Western Australia, despite being only 13 years old at the time of his arrest. The man was released and deported in 2012.
A group of individuals who were detained as children and accused of people smuggling will receive more than A$27 million (US $18.35 million) in compensation from the Commonwealth. The settlement was reached between the Commonwealth and a group led by Indonesian man Ali Yasmin, with Yasmin receiving A$40,000 (US$27,178) from the agreed sum. Yasmin led the claim on behalf of himself and other Indonesian children who alleged they arrived in Australia unaccompanied between 2007 and 2013.
The group members claimed they were born and raised in remote coastal fishing communities in poverty, with minimal education and little to no English language ability. They alleged that they boarded smuggling boats as children unaccompanied by legal guardians and were told they would be paid to work as crew members. When the boats were intercepted, they were transferred to Christmas Island for immigration processing.
The group alleged that they were investigated for alleged people smuggling offenses and detained by the then-Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Australian Federal Police. They claimed that they were incorrectly assessed by the Commonwealth to be adults, based on unreliable wrist X-rays, a method that has since been discredited. Each member of the group was then charged, indicted, prosecuted, convicted, and/or imprisoned in adult correctional facilities for those offenses.
The settlement, signed off on Dec. 22 by Justice Christopher Horan, was agreed to by the Commonwealth without any admissions of wrongdoing or liability. The Commonwealth specifically denied the unlawful detention, claiming it was authorized and required by the Migration Act. They also denied that they owed the duties of care alleged by the group or that they breached those duties. The settlement, as a whole, was found by Justice Horan to be fair and reasonable and in the interests of the group members. The settlement also included A$2.5 million (US$1.7 million) to cover legal costs.