Australia's Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, or ASRC, says a Bill which would allow force to be used in immigration detention would encourage a greater culture of abuse and mistreatment.
Amendments to the Migration Act would make immigration officers largely immune from liability for using force on detainees, if it is believed necessary to protect others in detention or maintain good order.
The ASRC chief executive officer Kon Karapanagiotidis says the powers in the Bill are broad and excessive, allowing the use of force in a broad range of circumstances with virtually no oversight or recourse.
He says there have already been incidents where officers have abused their powers and used excessive force on detainees, and broadening those powers would be dangerous.
An asylum-seeker holds a picture of Reza Berati who died at the detention centre Photo: AAP
"Given the death of Reza Barati, given the documented reports of abuse in detention from Nauru to Manus to onshore, we would be deeply, deeply troubled if these guards were given more power when they're so poorly trained, when there is such poor accountability already, and when there is already a culture of abuse in these centres to begin with."
