A story about how one-fifth of the immigration detainees freed from permanent detention last year by the High Court have since reoffended, has been circulating around the Australian media this week.

But some in the legal profession are claiming elements of the coverage of this story has been irresponsible.

They say much of the reporting hasn’t included important caveats and broader legal and social context around the crimes the former detainees are alleged to have been committed.

Principal solicitor at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Hannah Dickinson, joins Wednesday Daily host, Nelson Scott, to chat about the media’s failings in covering this story, and how misleading inferences and running commentaries made by those in the fourth estate, can distort the public’s perception of legal matters.