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Submission to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from
CENTACARE NEWCASTLE
Centacare Newcastle
Centacare Newcastle is the official welfare arm of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. The service was established in 1961 and is one of the longest standing welfare agencies in the Hunter. Centacare aims to provide high quality services concerned with the alleviation of conditions which lead to injustice or misery through poverty, alienation, unemployment, marital disharmony, child abuse, neglect and rejection, helplessness or other forms of suffering and distress. The primary purpose of assistance from Centacare is to empower a person or family to manage their situation better and, where possible, to change it.
Centacare Newcastle strives to be a centre of excellence for family and community support services in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, the Hunter Region and beyond. We warmly welcome any person in the diocese or region who is in need; regardless of age, gender, physical or intellectual capacity, religion, appearance or ethnicity. Our 60 staff work across a range of service areas. They are selected for their skill, experience and commitment to the Agency mission.
We provide children's services such as foster care, respite care, supervised access and adoption. We assist young people through our accommodation service and Job Placement Employment and Training (JPET) program. We have a residential support facility for adults with an intellectual disability. We have a counselling service that assists people with a wide range of issues.
Statement to the Inquiry
Centacare Newcastle does not support the current model of Immigration Detention. Centacare supports the assertion of the Hunter Community Council that regardless of how detainees arrive on Australian shores, each individual deserves quality of care whilst their requests are being processed and that these children should not be punished or used as 'examples' in order to deter others.
Of primary concern to Centacare is that the detention of children as currently practised may well breach our own state child protection laws and not meet Australia's commitment under the Convention of the Rights of the Child. In order to further ensure the best interests of the child, Centacare Newcastle calls for a separation of the roles of Immigration Minister and designated Guardian to children in Immigration Detention, and that an independent guardian be appointed by a justice body.
Additionally Centacare is concerned that access to children and their families is severely restricted. The practice of isolation, secrecy and misinformation practised by the Commonwealth Government in relation to detainees contradicts the Government's current rhetoric of community consultation and partnership.
Psychological and Social Well-Being of Children in Immigration Detention
Centacare has a long history of supporting children in Out Of Home Care and young people isolated from their families. Centacare is concerned that the general community, and in particular child and family welfare agencies whose responsibility it is to report suspected situations of child neglect or abuse are not properly informed of the ongoing conditions for children in immigration detention centres.
An integrated framework to reduce risk of harm to children in immigration detention
Centacare Newcastle is gravely concerned that there exists no systematic and standardised approach to risk assessment for children in immigration detention. Nor is there clear communication or accountability on behalf of the Commonwealth Government and the companies they contract to manage the detention centres and therefore the care of children in detention.
An integrated framework is needed that takes into account:
- The reluctance of children to disclose incidents of abuse
- The age, development, and functioning level of the child
- The loss and trauma experienced by these children who have been removed from all that is familiar, and who have little say in this move
- The violence, trauma and oppression these children may have experienced or witness in their country of origin and en route to Australia
- The cultural nuances of family life, parenting styles, and ways of showing and managing grief and loss
- That degree of risk of harm and probability of harm (key concepts in current NSW child protection initiatives) are directly related to the conditions within detention centres
Centacare Newcastle calls for an independent monitoring system that recognises these principles and that can ensure children who are not receiving adequate protection and care in relation to their psychological and social wellbeing, health, education and recreation receive immediate attention.
The impact of government policies on the wellbeing of children
Centacare spends a large amount of time and resources each year trying to alleviate the negative impact on children and young people who have lived in stressful and insecure conditions. In caring for children, we recognise the importance of the attachment between the child and their primary carer, usually the mother, to a child's healthy development. The wellbeing of parents is a key factor in this development as they are the primary conductors through which children form relationships with the outside world. Traumatised and depressed parents are less able to be sensitive caregivers and as such able to respond to the child's needs.
In detaining families for long periods of time and without adequate support and care, children are placed at risk because the social and psychological wellbeing of the child is dependent on the wellbeing of the family members. As such, the child's development - from coping mechanisms and feelings of safety, to their language development and ability to relate to others - is compromised when the family is living in conditions described in recent reports (i.e. Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, 2001).
Additionally, Centacare is concerned that the treatment of children and their families in immigration detention is both unjust and discriminatory. Detainees suffering from mood disorders and mental illness often suffer from feelings of despair, psychomotor retardation and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms of depression and trauma have been vilified by the immigration minister, who has described the actions of desperate detainees as 'manipulative'. Families may be better supported in immigration detention by ensuring that mental illness, trauma and mood disorders are appropriately managed whilst their requests are being processed.
Conclusion and recommendations
Centacare Newcastle is gravely concerned that the disparity in approaches between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories in regards to child protection legislation is allowing vulnerable children to remain unprotected. It is neither fair nor just to deny children the right to an education or adequate health care because of the actions of their parents. These children must not be punished to deter others. It is one issue to look at the reasons why their families came to Australia; it is another to care for them with compassion until their status is identified.
It is not good enough to say in years to come that we didn't know what was happening within immigration detention centres. Australians not only have the right to know how our government is treating other people but also the responsibility to ensure that human rights abuses do not continue because we did nothing. We know that denying children adequate education and health care has detrimental affects. We know that separating children from their parents unnecessarily causes multiple problems later on in life. We know that children are particularly vulnerable and are in need of protection in times of war and strife. With this sometimes painfully learned knowledge, we cannot support a system that is fundamentally unjust, particularly to children, and do not support the prolonged detention of asylum seekers.
In summary, Centacare puts forward the following recommendations:
Last Updated 9 January 2003.
- That the practice of long-term detention of children, and families with children, should cease
- That the family unit be maintained wherever possible and that it be adequately supported so that the wellbeing of each individual within the family contributes to the general wellbeing and resilience of the family as a whole
- That an independent body be established to continually monitor the conditions within detention centres and the processing of detainees
- That an independent Commonwealth Children's Guardian be appointed to ensure the care and protection of children in immigration detention and in after care
