Peak health bodies and human rights groups laud the former chief psychiatrist responsible for the care of asylum seekers
Peak medical bodies, pre-eminent mental health experts and international human rights groups have spoken out in
support of the former chief psychiatrist responsible for the care of asylum seekers detained by Australia for saying conditions in the immigration detention regime inflict deliberate harm.
In an extended interview Dr Peter Young, the former medical director of mental health services at IHMS, the private medical service provider responsible for healthcare in all of Australia’s detention centres, told Guardian Australia the detention environment was “inherently toxic” and akin to torture.
“If we take the definition of torture to be the deliberate harming of people in order to coerce them into a desired outcome, I think it does fulfil that definition,” Young said.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) strongly supported and commended Young for speaking publicly.
In a statement the RANZCP said it “would like to commend its member Dr Peter Young for speaking out about the shocking treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru, Christmas and Manus Islands.”
The RANZCP president, Dr Murray Patton, said: “Dr Peter Young’s brave stand is worthy of praise. As a psychiatrist, he has upheld his professional and ethical obligation to uphold the best interest of vulnerable patients for whom he has responsibility for.
“The college appreciates that Dr Young has taken this public stand at some personal cost.
“The college recognises the importance of evidence being made publicly available and strongly recommends that Dr Peter Young’s evidence be taken into consideration, when developing policy and practice, in relation to the treatment of adults and children seeking asylum in Australia.
The college said that Young’s revelations that the system inflicted deliberate harm were of “extreme concern”.
“If this is the case, it is of extreme concern and undoubtedly in breach of Australia’s human rights obligations,” Patton said.
Prof Nicholas Talley president of the RACP said: “Dr Peter Young must be congratulated for speaking out to protect the health of people in immigration detention.
“The RACP strongly supports physicians and other medical professionals who place their duty of care to patients first and foremost. The oath taken by all doctors, ‘to first, do no harm’ guides their conduct. This oath and a doctors’ ability to act in their patient’s best interests, must be respected in all circumstances, including in Australia’s immigration detention facilities,” Talley added.
The RACP is calling on the government to end mandatory detention and reinstate an independent medical body to report on conditions for asylum seekers in detention.
Neither the immigration minister, Scott Morrison, nor IHMS have responded to repeated requests for comment from Guardian Australia.
One of the government’s mental health commissioners, Prof Ian Hickie, said Young had only said what was already well-known among health professionals.
“Health professionals like Dr Young have an obligation to speak out on these issues, and in this case there is no longer a contentious evidence base about the degree of harm,” said Hickie, a leading psychiatrist and executive director of the University of Sydney’s brain and mind research institute.
“Degree of harm is directly related to length of time spent in detention and so therefore, there is a health obligation to minimise the time spent in detention.
“The clear position of all the major health organisations has been to encourage government to adopt policies that minimise periods of detention, and it is their job to present to government and to the public the evidence about the harm that detention may cause.”
Hickie believed mental health commissioners should advocate for the health of Australians, “and also those people who are living their lives in Australia, no matter what it says on their passport or where they have come from”.
Speaking in his capacity as a psychiatrist and mental health commissioner, Hickie said the important message for Young was to “stick at it”.
“It is our job to bring to the government’s attention the impact of current policy, and we should not back off from providing that evidence,” he said.
Leading international researcher, clinician and advocate for mental health reform, Prof Pat McGorry, said it was the duty of all doctors to uphold ethical principles in healthcare.
“My own experience, and all the evidence confirms, that prolonged detention with no certainty about the future seriously damages mental health,” said McGorry, a former Australian of the year and Australian of the Year and director of Orygen Youth Health. “Australia should choose an alternative approach.”
President of the RACGP, Dr Liz Marles, agreed, and said the college did not believe the government was focussed on humanitarian aspects of asylum seeker policy.
“Dr Peter Young’s comments are consistent with what we’ve said, and we are very concerned about the mental health impact of detention,” she said. “We would really urge the government to consider the impact of their policy on asylum seekers and their health.
“Dr Young has first-hand experience and is obviously very experienced working with asylum seekers, and like him, our concerns are also about people in detention, particularly long-term detention, and especially the impact on children.”
Prof Brian Owler, president of the Australian Medical Association, said he had “respect for what Dr Young is doing by speaking out,” adding he had “no reason to doubt what he’s saying”.
“I think it highlights the need for what AMA has said for some time – we need an independent group, to assess the medical facilities for asylum seekers so we can get an independent verification of conditions.”
Prof Louise Newman, one of Australia’s leading developmental psychiatrists said: “It is imperative that professionals like Dr Young are free to raise issues of significant concerns of any health system. This is a moral and ethical issue and the professional bodies should consider the implications of such a damaging system.”
In a statement Amnesty International said: “We applaud Dr Young’s stance in revealing the truth about what’s happening behind the veil of secrecy at Australian-run offshore detention centres.
“He has taken a brave stance against a system that seeks to punish and deter those who seek our protection, making a mockery of Australia’s signature on the UN Refugee Convention, which states that seeking asylum is never illegal, regardless of the mode of arrival or country of origin.
“Amnesty International repeats its calls to the Australian, Nauru and PNG governments to end offshore processing immediately.”
The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) in Melbourne also “welcomed Dr Young’s decision to share his experiences”.
“It’s vital that this information be made public so all Australians understand the true human cost of our government’s cruel policies,” said HRLC executive director, Hugh de Kretser.
“There is deep public interest in these issues. Given our government’s secrecy around asylum seeker practices, it’s vital that people like Dr Young have the courage to speak up about what is really happening inside our immigration detention system.”
The Australia director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, said Young’s “damning revelations show the human cost of Australia’s punitive policies”.
“Locking asylum seekers up for lengthy periods is clearly taking a severe toll on the mental health of detainees.”