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Australia may begin releasing detained refugees within days, after a landmark High Court ruling found indefinite detention is illegal.
The decision overturns a nearly 20 year-old precedent which allowed unsuccessful asylum seekers to be held with no release date.
The government has no grounds to appeal the High Court's decision.
In a statement, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has said he is "carefully" considering its implications.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has told the Seven Network the government needs to see the written reasons for the judgement, which are yet to be published.
"We need to understand the decision of the High Court, and then look at our response. Because we can't respond in a knee-jerk reaction that could actually make the legal circumstances worse."
The court heard more than 400 people could now be freed, although the specific case related to one plaintiff, who has now been released.
He is a Rohingya man from Myanmar who faced life in detention, because no country would settle him following a conviction for child sexual abuse.
There are 92 people in similar circumstances who may be released in coming days.
Associate Professor Daniel Ghezelbash is Deputy Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW.
He says the outcome forces Australia to comply with its international obligations.
"Australia's prior position which allowed indefinite detention, which allowed people to be detained years on end, was completely out of step with international law and the practices of other democratic nations. Indefinite detention has always been abritrary and unlawful under international law, so this is a big win for human rights."
The average time people currently spend in immigration detention is 708 days, and there are 124 people who the government has held for over 5 years.
The impact of indefinite detention on mental health cannot be overstated, according to Director of Clinical Legal Programs at Murdoch University, Anna Copeland.
She has witnessed the toll up-close on the clients she represents.
"It's terrible, it's awful, I mean it's worse than prison. First of all because the facilities are nowhere near as good in detention as they are in prison, in terms of access to education or even health support, mental health support. But in addition to the that, I think one of the worst things is that you don't know when it's going to end. And then for these men, it's felt like it's never going to end. And that has a really negative impact on your mental health. At least in prison you can count the days down until your release, but you can't do that when you're in indefinite detention."
Head of Psychiatry at Monash University, Professor Suresh Sundram, says people seeking asylum have usually experienced traumatic events in their own country.
Even short periods of indefinite detention wear down their resilience.
"They're left highly vulnerable to experiencing and re-experiencing traumas from their past. So what we see is a recrudescence of post-traumatic stress symptoms, major depressive symptoms, suicidal and self-harming behaviours, which are their response to being indefinitely detained."
Alison Ryan is the Acting Principal Solicitor at Refugee Advice and Casework Service.
She says the ruling offers a ray of hope for many of her clients who are still in detention, but release is only the beginning for people who have experienced years of trauma and need to rebuild their lives.
"They'll need a great deal of support and I think that's one of the difficult issues now, is that they'll need to be given a visa, to be able to be in the community as a starting point, and with that visa to be able to work and to access health services. Without those basic rights, it's very hard for someone to live at all in the community."
The federal Opposition has also expressed concern about detainees being released - but is focused on the potential threat they may pose to others.
Opposition spokesman for Home Affairs, James Paterson, says the government needs to prioritise community safety.
"Let's remember that these people have either committed serious crimes or otherwise violated the character provisions of the Migration Act. What they should have done, is already be prepared with all lawful options to protect the Australian community from these offenders. That could include for example, as we do when it relates to terrorism, measures to manage these people like an extended supervision order or a control order."
Dr Ghezelbash says international precedents show Australia can protect the community without resorting to indefinite detention.
"The principles at play here - they go beyond an individual case, and go beyond the immigration detention context. I think it's general principles of justice we should all hold dear. One of them being that, no one should be able to be detained indefinitely, regardless of their visa status, at the whim of the government."
