Serco profits rise as detention contracts hit $1.86bn

Bianca Hall Private security company Serco's contracts with the government have blown out by $1.5 billion, as Australia's border protection system strains under the weight of increased flows of asylum seekers.

Asylum seeker industry's $8 billion money spinner

Matt O'Sullivan and Bianca Hall A surge in asylum seekers held in detention centres on Australia's mainland and Pacific island outposts is proving to be a growing money spinner for companies contracted by the Immigration Department.

Maralinga survivors in last bid for justice

Bianca Hall SIXTY-ONE years after servicemen were deliberately exposed to the fury of nuclear bomb testing at Maralinga, their lawyers are seeking a desperate intervention by the Australian Human Rights...

Court halts deportation of 56 men

Bianca Hall, Daniel Flitton The deportation of 56 Tamil men has been halted after a dramatic hearing at the High Court. The Immigration Department agreed to halt the men's forcible deportations, expected on Tuesday, and all...

Officer in court over love affairs

David Wroe and Bianca Hall A military court heard allegations a top naval officer falsely claimed allowances.

The captain, his wife and his three lovers

David Wroe, Bianca Hall A RANKING naval officer was having several love affairs while fraudulently claiming tens of thousands of dollars in entitlements for being stationed away from his wife, a military court was told on...

UN gives Canberra deadline to address refugee health fears

Bianca Hall THE United Nations has given Australia a month to show how it will ensure the mental and physical safety of two refugees, one of whom tried to commit suicide this month.

Postgraduate numbers double in 10 years

Bianca Hall The number of Australians holding postgraduate degrees has more than doubled since 2001.

Security risk refugee tries to end life

Daniel Flitton and Bianca Hall A Tamil refugee branded a security threat by ASIO and held in detention in Melbourne has attempted to take his life.

Tamil man attempts suicide in detention

Daniel Flitton, Bianca Hall A TAMIL refugee branded a security threat by ASIO and held in detention in Melbourne has attempted to take his life, following a suicide attempt last week by another Tamil man in Sydney.

Refugee attempts suicide to highlight brother's plight

Bianca Hall A man attempted suicide at the Villawood detention centre days after writing to his case officer that he was prepared to give his life for his brother, who is also being detained.

Three detainees in Villawood protest

Bianca Hall Three people stage rooftop protest at Villawood detention centre in Sydney, with guards setting up mattresses below the trio.

A first for the PM but abusers take advantage

Bianca Hall A FACEBOOK question-and-answer session hosted by Julia Gillard descended into personal abuse of the Prime Minister as the Alan Jones controversy continued.

Trolls take time out of schedules to abuse Gillard

Bianca Hall A Facebook question-and-answer session hosted by Prime Minister Julia Gillard descended into personal abuse yesterday, as the row surrounding Alan Jones continued to rage.

Trade pact seen as risk to research

By Bianca Hall Up to 90 per cent of academic research could be affected by an Australian-US trade agreement that would make it an offence for academics to communicate findings on research, the University of Sydney...

Sexual abuse worst in media

Bianca Hall Female journalists are more than twice as likely to be sexually harassed in the workforce than women in other professions, a Monash University study has found.

Police chiefs eager to harness technological advances

Bianca Hall AUSTRALIA's police commissioners want to help draft laws that would allow them to access the public's telecommunications data for up to two years.

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Media watchdog bitten by one of its targets

Bianca Hall Who watches the watchdog?

Boat people number down but indefinite detainees up

Bianca Hall The number of asylum seekers coming to Australia has dropped by 9 per cent.