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Media Releases
Child Health Specialists Call For
Independent Review of the Health Needs of Children in Australian
Detention Centres
Issued 17 August 2001
ŠThe Royal Australian and New Zealand
College of Psychiatrists
http://www.ranzcp.org/statements/mr/childdet.htm
Revised: 18 September 2001
The Commonwealth Government and the Department of Immigration and
Multicultural Affairs must act immediately to review the health needs of
children in Australian detention centres, according to Australia's two
key medical specialty groups in child health.
The Paediatric & Child Health Division of the Royal Australasian
College of Physicians (RACP), and the Faculty of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists (RANZCP), are united in their call for appropriate
assessment, intervention and support for children in Australian
detention centres.
"We are calling on the Government to undertake an independent,
expert review of the situation at the earliest possible
opportunity," the President of the RACP Paediatrics and Child
Health Division, Dr Jill Sewell, said today.
"We are particularly concerned about these children, some of
whom are born in detention, for their subsequent emotional development
and for the effects of detention on the functioning of their
families," echoed Dr Louise Newman, Chair of the RANZCP Faculty of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The Colleges believe that all children in Australia, regardless of
circumstance, are entitled to live in a safe and free environment (in
accordance with the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the
Child), and advocate that, given appropriate supervision, children and
their families be released into the community.
Internationally published evidence indicates that prolonged detention
of children is detrimental to their mental and physical health. And, as
Dr Newman said, "like so many other childhood disorders, without
timely detection and appropriate intervention the problems can only
magnify in later life."
Australia is one of many affluent countries across the globe having
to deal with the entry of asylum seekers, and is not the only one to
resort to detention. There are, however, examples of nations that have
developed appropriate and humane ways to manage asylum seekers. Sweden
requires only brief detention and does not impound children, despite
having a very similar number of asylum seekers and a smaller population
than Australia. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR)
guidelines clearly state that "minors who are asylum-seekers
should not be detained" and that children and their parents
should not be separated. The Colleges strongly endorse these statements.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians comprises a
Fellowship of medical specialists who are committed to providing the
highest quality of care in internal medicine, paediatrics and their
sub-specialties to all people in Australia and New Zealand. The
Paediatrics & Child Health Division represents the interests of 1200
Paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists is the
principal body representing the medical specialty of psychiatry in
Australasia. The Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has
approximately 300 members in Australia and New Zealand.
Contact:
| Dr Gervase Chaney, FRACP |
Tel: (0411) 144 532 |
| Dr Sharon Goldfeld, FRACP |
Tel: (0438) 160 170 |
| Dr Louse Newman, FRANZCP |
Tel: (0418) 453 447 |
| Mr Craig Patterson, CEO, RANZCP |
Tel: (0438) 608 087 |
ŠThe Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists
http://www.ranzcp.org/statements/mr/childdet.htm
Revised: 18 September 2001
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