16 May 2002
National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
Education Submissions Available
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has received more than 200 submissions for its Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention, announced in November last year.
Over the next few weeks, the Commission will make key submissions available on the Inquiry website. The first submissions to be released focus on education in immigration detention centres.
They were submitted by:
- South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment;
- Australian Council of Deans of Education Incorporated;
- Australian Federation of University Women Inc;
- Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI);
- National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC);
- NSW branch of the Australian Early Childhood Association;
- Queensland Independent Education Union (QIEU) Equity Committee;
- Queensland Teachers' Union; and
- United Nations Youth Association of Australia
It is nearly two years since children were first released from detention and entered the education system in South Australia. These children have experienced serious hardship, which has impacted on their psychological and educational well being. They have very real histories with deep emotional scars. Full recovery from such experiences will be very long term in extreme cases.
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NCEC is concerned that the current conditions in some of the detention centres are not conducive to good learning. The emotional and psychological stress the situation places on both parents and children has a negative impact on educational outcomes.
- the National Catholic Education Commission
Public hearings or the inquiry will begin in Melbourne on 30 and 31 May and will also be held in Perth (June 10), Sydney (June 24/25), Adelaide (July 15) and Brisbane (August 5).
Media contact:
Janine MacDonald (02) 9284 9880 or 0408 469 347
