The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Paediatrics & Child Health Division
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

MEDIA RELEASE

17 August 2001

Child health specialists call FOR the release OF CHILDREN and their families from AUSTRALIAN DETENTION CENTRES

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 Australias two key medical specialty groups in child health.

The Paediatrics & 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 & Child Health Division, Dr Jill Sewell, said today.

"We are particularly concerned about these children, many 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 can be 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 over 1200 Paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) 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.