detention center

Noun

detention centre (plural detention centres)

1. A facility in which people are detained (held in custody); a jail.
   • All jurisdictions have their own prison systems, although the Australia Capital Territory (ACT) has only one remand centre and one periodic detention centre.2002, Russell Hogg, Chapter 1: Prisoners and the Penal Estate in Australia, David Brown, Meredith Wilkie (editors), Prisoners as Citizens: Human Rights in Australian Prisons, page 3
2. (Australia) An immigration detention facility; a facility in which people who have attempted to enter Australia without prior authorisation are detained, pending a decision on whether they are to be accepted as refugees or returned to their country of origin.
   • New detention centres were opened, all in remote areas — at Woomera in the South Australian desert in November 1999, and the Curtin Detention Centre at Derby in Western Australia in February 2000.2004, Brian Galligan, Winsome Roberts, Australian Citizenship, page 69
3. A concentration camp.