Submission to Inquiry into the Migration Amendment Bill (Health Care for Asylum Seekers)

This document is a submission made in 2012 by the APS to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into the Migration Amendment (Health Care for Asylum Seekers) Bill.

The APS submission points to evidence regarding the serious adverse effects of long-term indefinite immigration detention on the mental health and wellbeing of those detained, with these impacts lasting well beyond the period of detention, particularly for those who are detained in remote and/or offshore detention facilities.

The submission supports the proposal to amend the Migration Act 1958 to create a panel of medical, psychological, dental and health experts to monitor, assess and report on the health of asylum seekers who are taken to regional processing countries. It also restates the APS position that detention should not take place offshore or in remote locations.

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