Former doctors, nurses and case workers who have worked in Australian-run immigration detention centres are rallying in opposition to new laws that will criminalise the disclosure of information relating to asylum seekers in Australia’s care.
The federal government, with the support of Labor, introduced a new offence relating to the operations of the Australian Border Force that comes into force on Wednesday.
The offence could render disclosures from routine activities of many doctors and contractors potentially illegal – including relating to work at the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres, with limited exceptions available.
The new offence gives the secretary of the newly formed Australian Border Force a broader discretion to determine what kind of “protected information” would be subject to the offence, and also greater powers to determine who it could be applied.
It could also potentially criminalise the making of “a record” of information that is protected.
An open letter is being circulated by Dr John-Paul Sanggaran, who previously worked on Christmas Island for International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) in 2014, and is gathering broad support to oppose the amendments.
“There are significant barriers that are already in this place that deter people from speaking out about human rights abuses and substandard clinical care,” Sanggaran said.
“And then you add … an explicit threat of a two-year jail term, and you prevent people acting in the best interests of their patients,” he said.
“There needs to be a message sent that this threat is not going to stop us speaking out for those who have a duty of care.”
The letter has significant support, and is set to be published on Wednesday.
The new disclosure offence will add to an already hostile legal environment for those who speak out about conditions and abuse in Australian immigration detention centres.
The current secretary of the immigration department, Michael Pezullo, has personally referred stories about asylum seekers by journalists from Guardian Australia, news.com.au and the West Australian to the Australian federal police with a view to identifying and prosecuting whistleblowers under an existing disclosure offence in the Crimes Act.
Legal experts have taken the extraordinary step of warning doctors in detention centres to seek advice over the new laws, which could also potentially expose them to personal injury claims or professional misconduct proceedings.
The new offence will also come into force amid an ongoing Senate inquiry into allegations of sexual assault and concerns over conditions at the Nauru detention centre.
Source: The Guardian