Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

From August of 2013 to April this year, the time spent in detention centres has risen dramatically from an average of 72 to 394 days. As of May 2015, there were 138 children held in immigration facilities on the Australian mainland and 81 children held in detention on Nauru. The rise in the amount of time spent in detention centres both in Australia and offshore is harming these children's physical and mental health. Late last year, detention centre medical staff confirmed that 34 percent of the children aged 5-12 years had mental health disorders comparable to children referred to hospital based child mental services for psychiatric treatment.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights Australia's obligation to protect the mental health of children. It states that 'parties recognise the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health within Australia', yet we are keeping these children isolated within these camps. They are growing up filled with anxiety and apprehension, not knowing if or when they are finally going to be offered refuge. As one 13-year-old boy said: 'I left my country. I came to have a better future, not to sit in a prison.' We must ask ourselves: how long is long enough for a child to wait for their freedom?

The government promised that these children would be released. They have not been. So wrote Evangeline Stogiannou, from Glen Waverley Secondary College, who was a year 10 work experience student in my office. She was passionate about this. She asked to write about it. I want to thank Eva for her startling words.

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