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The Victorian Bar Council has been provided with the submission to the HREOC Enquiry into the mandatory detention of children that has been prepared by a group headed by Julian Burnside QC and called the Kids in Detention Story.

The Social Responsibilities Commission was established by the Anglican Diocese of Perth in the early 1980s, and became a provincial body a decade later. Throughout its history, the Commission has sought to be an advocate for the human rights of all people, particularly those who are the most vulnerable in society.

On my right is Professor Trang Thomas, Professor of Psychology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and on my left Mrs Robin Sullivan, who is also the Queensland Children's Commissioner. Before the hearing commences I would like to note the following matters. First, the issue of confidentiality and privacy. The Commission believes it is important to respect the privacy of individuals and to protect children in particular. Even where individual cases have been made public elsewhere, individual's names should not be named in this hearing.

This submission will comment on the Mental Health and development needs of child asylum seekers from an analysis of the interview transcripts from nine refugees who have an experience of detention in Australia. 12th March 2002

DR OZDOWSKI: It is 9.30 so we will start another day off, formal hearings. My name is Dr Sev Ozdowski and I'm the Human Rights Commissioner. To my right is Dr Trang Thomas, Professor of Psychology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and to my left Mrs Robin Sullivan, Queensland's Children's Commissioner. Both of them do assist me with the Inquiry as Assistant Commissioners. Also, on my left Ms Vanessa Lesnie who is Secretary to the Inquiry.

DR OZDOWSKI: My name is Dr Ozdowski and I am the Human Rights Commissioner and we are conducting an Inquiry into Children in Detention. To my left is Mrs Robin Sullivan who is Assistant Commissioner for the Inquiry and in her other life, she is Queensland Children's Commissioner and to my right is Professor Trang Thomas, Professor of Psychology at the Melbourne Institute of Technology and she is also Assistant Commissioner. Also to my left is Mrs Vanessa Lesnie and she is Secretary to the Inquiry.

In accordance with the general principle stated at Guideline 2 and the UNHCR [1] Guidelines on Refugee Children, minors who are asylum seekers should not be detained…

Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 31/01/2002 Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 22/02/2002 Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 21/03/2002 Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 03/04/2002 Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 29/04/2002 Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 06/05/2002 Letter to Mr Philip Ruddock MP 09/06/2002

DR OZDOWSKI: Good morning everybody. I would like to formally open this public hearing which is the last, hopefully, of the series held around Australia. My name is Sev Ozdowski and I'm the Human Rights Commissioner and to my right I've got Professor Trang Thomas, who is Professor of Psychology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Today the Commission will be assisted by counsel Michael Wigney and Mr Jonathon Hunyor of the Commission and I would like to ask for the benefit of the audience that the counsel for DIMIA and ACM would introduce themselves.

The lack of coherence and logic in decisions as regards detainees ethnicity and the veracity of their stories - primary decision makers failure rate as compared to RRT decisions which saw many boys kept in detention for up to 12 months longer than boys who arrived at the same time from the same area on the same boat - some friends still remain in detention today up to two years later when the boys know they are Hazara with the same history and the same claim to protection - leading to complete distrust in the whole system

The Commonwealth has some statutory obligations to set standards: eg, under the Quarantine Act 1908 (see below), and the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (to provide a national framework for the regulation of therapeutic goods in Australia and ensure their quality, safety and efficacy).

Artwork Submitted to the Inquiry 1. Drawings provided by a child who has been in detention at Port Hedland for 22 months. To return to the Artwork Index page click here. Last Updated 9 January 2003. ...

3. I was employed by what is now the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) for 37 years. I started with the Department after leaving school and was employed with them until January 2002 when I resigned.

1. In Beijing in 1995 the Australian government was one of 73 governments that made commitments for national action during their plenary speeches at the Beijing Conference.

To those of you who have been following this Inquiry closely, it may be unclear as to why this hearing is taking place as I had said in December 2002 that those would be the last of the Inquiry's hearings. I will therefore briefly set out the history and methodology of the Inquiry to this point which will take us to why we are here today. I will then set out what steps remain to be completed after this hearing is concluded and prior to publication. Finally, I will set out the proposed procedure for today's hearing. Let us start with methodology of the Inquiry to date.

10th April, 2002 Chatswood IEC has students from between 15 to 25 language groups at any one time. We have only a small number of children from detention centres, possibly because of our relatively privileged socio-economic intake area. However, all staff members have observed a clear difference between the behaviour, performance and general well being of ex detention centre children and all our other students. It should be noted that this difference remains clear between ex detention centre children and children from the same part of the world who have not been in detention.