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Submission to the National

Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from

Social Justice Group at St

John's College Dandenong, Victoria


We, the Social Justice

group at St John's Regional in Dandenong, Victoria, have discussed issues

relating to children in detention centres in Australia. We make the following

recommendations to your inquiry.

In light of the United

Nation's Declaration on the Rights of the Child we uphold the rights of

all children to happy and safe life.

  • We believe that

    all children have the right to live in a stable environment with their

    parents and family.


  • We believe that

    no child should be subjected to trauma, fear, self-mutilation and violence

    of any form, and that every child should be free from harm and from

    the influence of those who incite trouble.

We urge your inquiry

to recommend the removal of families from detention centres in Australia

to other forms of residence so that the children may live safely.

  • We believe that

    every child has the right to an education, including proper facilities

    and resources such as a well-designed curriculum and caring teachers.

    We believe that there needs to be consistency in the employment of teachers

    in Detention Centres so that the children may feel secure.

We urge your inquiry

to recommend the employment of well - qualified and resourced teachers

in detention centres in Australia, and who will undertake long term contracts.

We also urge your

inquiry to recommend to Education authorities the ready access by children

to English Language programs.

  • We believe that

    all children in detention centres should have opportunity for social

    interaction with other children in the wider community and participate

    in a range of sporting activities.

We urge your inquiry

to recommend that children in detention centres are given access to meet

and interact with children in the wider community on a regular basis for

sporting and other activities.


Submitted by members

of the Social Justice Group at St John's College Dandenong, Victoria.

  • Sharlene Alexander
  • Angeliki

    Chimarios

  • Mark

    Elliott

  • Duy

    Ho

  • Alister

    Kelly

  • Caroline

    Majda

  • Julie

    Nguyen

  • Holly

    Benedetti

  • Milika

    Fernando

  • Natasha

    Goonetilleke

  • Holly

    Kokoszka

  • Julie

    Pham

  • Jenny

    Pham

  • Sharon

    Remedios

  • Hans

    Schumacher

  • Ms

    Tricia O'Brien (teacher)

Last

Updated 9 January 2003.