Hundreds of medical staff and students across the country have used their lunch breaks to protest against the policy of keeping children in detention.
A protest outside Sydney’s Westmead Children’s Hospital was one of several around the nation, targeting the practice of keeping asylum-seeker children in detention centres.
Protesters waved signs and banners which read “detention harms children” and signed a petition.
Paediatrician David Isaacs said detention had harmful lifelong effects on children’s mental and physical health.
“We are no longer accepting children being in detention,” he said.
In Darwin, about 200 doctors, nurses and other health workers gathered outside Royal Darwin Hospital.
The group held up a banner reading “detention harms children”.
Organising paediatrician Joshua Francis said many in the group felt a responsibility to tell ordinary Australians about the traumatised asylum-seeker families they treated.
Students and staff at James Cook University in Townsville also came out in protest.
Third-year student Angus Lane said medical professionals and students had a moral obligation to oppose situations that led to poor health outcomes.
“As part of our social contract with society we have to advocate for people’s health and with conditions on Nauru and other such detention centres, people’s health isn’t going well,” he said.
“There are all sorts of nasty reports coming out of [Nauru] of child abuse, be it physical, emotional even sexual so that’s a big issue in itself.”
Mr Lane said the Border Force Act, which prevents those working for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection from disclosing what happens inside detention centres, contravened the code of ethics of medical professionals.
“If this kind of thing was to be happening [in places] such as India or China, Australia would immediately be denouncing this and it would be seen as a breach of professional rights,” he said.
“Australians I think are slow to stir, but once they have stirred, we are proud and we are strong and we will send the Government a strong message.”
Today’s protests in Sydney, Darwin and Adelaide follow similar action at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital earlier this month, attended by almost 1,000 people.