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The human right to health is not simply the right to health care. It is also a right to the underlying determinants of health, including food and nutrition, housing, access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, and a healthy environment.

The current submission recognises the need to move beyond mere critique of the status quo and focus resources on the development of viable alternatives. To be feasible any such model must satisfy the legitimate concerns of the government while upholding the fundamental right of freedom of movement.

Although it is not possible to precisely specify all the circumstance that lead people to arrive in Australia through people smuggling routes, there can be no doubt that they undertake perilous journeys which put their lives and that of accompanying family members at risk. Given the very high rates of approval for those who have sought asylum in Australia through these routes, it is reasonable to assume that most detainees have fled their countries for reasons of persecution.

Australia is a signatory to a number of International Conventions, which are relevant to mandatory detention of children in Australia’s immigration detention centres. Under International law, each of the conventions that Australia has ratified is binding on the Australian state, which is obliged to bring its domestic laws into conformity with their stipulations. In Australia, International Conventions do not have legal force in domestic law, and cannot be directly applied by the domestic courts in Australia, unless the Australian Parliament enacts them into legislation.

International and Australian evidence demonstrates the long-term effects of early life experience on health and well being throughout life. The detention of children and young people is poses significant risks to normal development. The exposure of infants and young children to stress either directly or mediated through the experiences of their parents reduces the likelihood of normal brain development.

Justice for Asylum Seekers (JAS) is a non-incorporated alliance of community organisations founded in 1999 to work for just treatment of people seeking asylum. It is based in Victoria, meets monthly and has three working groups: 1. Campaign, 2. Detention reform and 3. Lobbying.

Reports on complaints of discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference, criminal record and trade union activity are available on our discrimination in employment and occupation page.

I want to tell you that actually I spent about fifteen nights in the ride to Australia. I was in a small boat if you want to call that a boat, because it was smaller than that, with lots of difficulties. When I saw [we were] getting near Australia I was becoming a little bit hopeful. When we passed Darwin I got to the detention centre as soon as I looked at these barbed wires my mind was full of fear. That was the time that I experienced fear ...

On 13 January 2009 the Commission released the 2008 Immigration detention report: Summary of observations following visits to Australia’s immigration detention facilities.

This submission has been prepared by staff and law students from the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service Inc (SCALES). The students worked on this submission as part of a course offered through Murdoch University School of Law in Advanced Clinical Legal Education. This unit is conducted at the School's Law Clinic - SCALES which is also a community legal centre that provides free legal advice, information and representation to low income people living in the Kwinana, Rockingham and Mandurah areas.

This chapter addresses the impact of the detention environment on the mental health of children and the measures taken to address their mental health needs. Consistent with the breadth of protection given to the welfare of children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Inquiry uses the term mental health to describe the psychological well-being of children as well as diagnosed psychiatric illness.

1. I am a qualified youth worker who was employed by Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) at the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (the WIRPC) from May 2000 to January 2002.

Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) is the national professional organisation for Australian nurses. The College was established in 1949 and until the early 1990's was a provider of formal ongoing education for nurses who wished to gain higher qualifications in nursing. Following the completion of the transfer of nursing to the higher education sector in 1993, the College refocused its functions to become the national professional organisation for Australian nurses.

Special thanks goes to Maritza Manojlovic, Michele Nardelli and Rosemary Thompson who skilfully helped me to elaborate the arguments of the paper. To the Middle Eastern new arrivals that warmly welcomed me into their lives, ready to reveal their deepest concerns in the belief that they would be taken seriously, I say thank you. My greatest thanks goes to Mohammed Amirghiasvand for inspiring me to continue working in this area.

By the time that this annual report is published, Professor Gillian Triggs will have succeeded me as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. I wish her well in her new role and trust that she will gain the enjoyment and satisfaction from leading the work of the Commission that I have done.

DR OZDOWSKI: I would like to formally open the second day of hearings in Adelaide. This is one of the hearings conducted around Australia for the National Inquiry into Children in Detention. My name is Sev Ozdowski, I'm the Human Rights Commissioner. With me is Mrs Robin Sullivan to my left, who is Queensland Children's Commissioner, and Dr Trang Thomas, on my right, is Professor of Psychology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. They are Assistant Commissioners helping me with the Inquiry.