Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Refugees are the backbone of our country. Australia has a proud record over many decades of welcoming refugees who have fled disaster and conflict to seek safety and a new life in our country. Government provides substantial financial and social support for refugees once they arrive in Australia. However, we Australians are a generous people, and I am regularly contacted by constituents wanting to know what they can do personally to assist refugees in our community. In response, I was pleased to organise and facilitate a presentation by the Multicultural Development Association on how individuals can offer practical and social support and create a warm welcome for refugees.

I was delighted that more than one hundred local people turned up for the presentation to understand what they can do to contribute. There are things such as the family match program, the job club and little things like helping new refugees go to official appointments, explaining the local facilities to them, providing extra English classes, helping prepare them for business and work or perhaps volunteering to pay public transport costs for them.

We also provide information on the many support services in the community like the Romero Centre, who also ask for food hampers. I was appalled to hear from a support worker who went to help one group that they did not know that they could freely access the green space opposite the local park. These are things where we can all help. I thank the Multicultural Development Association.