Woomera, South Australia and Woomera was chosen as a site for such a facility. The establishment of the Woomera Immigration Detention Centre in 1999, through the refurbishment of the original Woomera Village construction camp at 'Woomera West', eventually brought in new permanent staff (as the Nurrungar people were leaving) to settle and maintain the village population at around 1,200. The immigration detention centre, however, proved to be a highly controversial facility and it closed in early 2003 after only about 36 months of operation, at which point the land and buildings were handed back to the Defence Department. Following the closure of the
Actors for Refugees launched in 2008 include 'Rendition Monologues', 'Asylum Dialogues', Palestine Monologues' and 'The Illegals'. Actors for Refugees Actors for Refugees is an Australian community organisation. It was founded in Melbourne in September 2001 by actresses Alice Garner and Kate Atkinson. It aimed to use the collective power of Australian actors to influence community attitudes toward refugees and asylum seekers and to encourage a humanitarian response to their plight. The network's main activity was performing 'Something to Declare' compiled by Michael Gurr, and Club Refuge; rehearsed readings of true stories and first-hand testimonies of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. The Australian