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My name is Katie Brosnan. I am a permanent resident of Australia and a citizen of Ireland. I qualified as a high school teacher in Ireland in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in education. I have taught in Ireland, Poland and Australia in mainstream educational facilities as well as with marginalized groups e.g. refugees in Ireland, gypsies in Ireland.

I have been provided with a copy of the submission submitted on behalf of the South Australian Coalition for Refugee Children. The Law Society has been concerned for some time with the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. I enclose herewith a copy of the resolution of the Law Society on these matters. I particularly draw your attention to the Society’s position with respect to the detention of children. The submission of the SA Coalition for Refugee Children is well researched and the submissions have obvious force. I commend the submission to you. Yours sincerely

I am writing to express my serious concerns about the health and well-being of children, pregnant and lactating women and women of child bearing age in the groups of asylum seekers presently locked up in detention centres. I am also concerned about the men.

3. I am a qualified and registered Psychologist, and hold a BA, MA, Teaching Certificate, and PhD. I have been working as psychologist in Australia since 1978, and worked previously in Canada as a psychologist and teacher. I have also previously worked for Family and Youth Services in South Australia.

"Like sands shifted by restless winds, refugees spill today across the globe. They constitute a Fourth World, one whose inhabitants have no representation and over which they have no control."

Whilst employed as a registered nurse at the Woomera detention centre, it came within the parameters of my duties to treat all detainees, men, women, and children. I would like to share some anecdotes of some of those patient contacts that occurred between myself and specifically the children (or child related contacts). The dates of my employment at the WIRPC were early August 2000- mid February 2001, 3 x 6 week contracts. Each of these contracts were for 6 x 12 hour shifts per week, i.e. 72 hours per week.

Melbourne Citymission would like to thank you for the opportunity to provide input into your inquiry into children in immigration detention. It is an issue that goes to the very heart of how we as a nation care for our children. It is particularly pertinent to Melbourne Citymission as we are an organization committed to supporting and advocating on behalf of the marginalised.

Many of my clients (while I was working as a Child and Adolescent Counsellor with STARTTS June 2000 - January 2002) refused to talk about their experiences in Australian Immigration Detention Centres. In addition, several mothers only let me see their children for counselling on the condition that I not raise their Australian Detention experiences as it would distress them too much and they do not want to talk about it. This concerned me a lot.

I looked up and saw a long line of men, women and children waiting to have their blood taken. I was standing beside a small table in a RAAF tent with a co-worker. It was 40 degrees Celsius in the Kimberly November humidity. Both ends of our tent were open in a vain attempt to get a breeze through as we worked side by side with flies buzzing around our faces and hands and sweat running down our bodies. This was my first impression of a detention centre.

The disabled child [age removed], had cerebral palsy and from memory his family was [nationality removed]. I think his Curtin ID number was [removed] and his name [name removed]. His family arrived [date removed]. He had a couple of siblings, [age removed, name removed]. [Identifying details removed]. Last I heard was that the child was being cared for at Curtin (now closed) in the Health clinic by the nurses as the mother had refused to look after him anymore as she had exhausted all visa application processes and was still refused.

The following material was provided to the Inquiry by Michael Williams, Chairman of the Swedish Network of Refugee and Asylum Support Groups in a series of emails in April 2003.

The National Program on Refugees and Displaced People operates under the Christian World Service Commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia, which has been assisting refugees to resettle in Australia since 1948.

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.

The National Association of Community Based Children's Services (NACBCS) is extremely concerned at the briefings we have received from our colleagues about the detention of children who are seeking asylum in Australia.

The National Association of Community Based Children's Services (NACBCS) represents long day care, preschool, occasional care and outside school hours care services that are community owned and managed. The members of NACBCS predominantly work in direct contact with children and families in the services and advocate for quality childcare services for young children.

The Commission would like to thank the children and young people who participated in the project and demonstrated great courage in allowing us to hear and tell their often painful and traumatic stories, in a hope that things would change for the better.

1. Introduction 2. Adequacy of current educational provision 3. Educational programs in NSW government schools 4. Temporary Protection Visa Holders enrolled in government schools. 5. Cost of educating child asylum seekers and students on temporary protection visas 6. Support for children and families who have been released from detention 7. Recommendations Appendix 1

Attached please find my submission to this Inquiry. It expresses my concerns as a private citizen with the current detention and treatment of refugee children.

This submission has been prepared following a public seminar held on 4 March 2002 to discuss the experiences of children in Immigration Detention Centres in Australia. The seminar, held at the University of Western Sydney (Macarthur - Bankstown), was convened by Childhood and Youth Policy Research Unit of the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, University of Western Sydney in association with Defence for Children International (Australia) and the Association of Child Welfare Agencies.