A series of catastrophic security failures involving the US private prison company running Australia’s immigration detention centres has allowed the escape of high-risk detainees, caused ill-equipped staff to be stabbed and hospitalised, and triggered multiple investigations, one of which warned its “minimalist staffing model” was putting workers and detainees at risk.Guardian Australia can reveal that in September 2025, just six months after Management and Training Corporation assumed control of onshore detention, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, was forced to haul in the company’s president from the US to dress him down in a secret face-to-face meeting.MTC won a $2.3bn contract to run onshore detention from last year under its local subsidiary Secure Journeys, a deal struck despite serious concerns about MTC’s track record in the US and at Parklea prison in Sydney.A car drives past Sydney’s Villawood immigration detention centre. Photograph: Daniel Munoz/ReutersUsing internal documents obtained through freedom of information and interviews with MTC staff, detainees and government sources, Guardian Australia has established that:
Seriously ill detainees are missing medical appointments because MTC lacks the staff to escort them to health centres, a situation that has infuriated the home affairs department.
