Iranian refugee loses court battle against government over mental injuries caused by immigration detention

Australia Broadcast Center

09-05-2025

An Iranian refugee has failed in a bid to sue the federal government for mental health injuries caused by five years of immigration detention.
The trial in South Australia's Supreme Court was seen as a test case for dozens of other refugees who were detained under similar circumstances.
Payam Saadat was held in immigration detention in Western Australia and then South Australia after arriving on Ashmore Reef in 2000.
The trial heard Mr Saadat fled Iran where he had been detained, tortured and physically abused before seeking asylum in Australia.
His lawyer argued during the trial that the government knew, or should have known, that he was suffering from or vulnerable to a psychiatric illness either caused or made worse by his immigration detention.
Mr Saadat arrived in Australia after a 29-day journey by boat to Ashmore Reef.
A Howard-era asylum seeker, Mr Saadat was detained on mainland Australia, first at Curtin in Western Australia from 2000 to 2002, and then at Baxter detention centre in South Australia, for almost three years.
In 2021, he launched a case against the federal government over mental injuries he alleged he suffered while he was held in detention.
The matter was regarded as a "test case" because Mr Saadat was the first of more than 60 immigration detainees with claims against the Commonwealth and two private companies contracted to run detention centres in the state.
His statement of claim against the government asserted that if he was not suffering a mental illness when he arrived at Baxter, he developed one there – a chronic adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
His lawyer told the federal court the government knew, or should have known, that he was suffering a psychiatric injury, or was vulnerable to developing one, when he was moved to Baxter.