Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I have additional information to a response I provided yesterday to Senator Hanson-Young and I seek leave to have it incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The answer read as follows—

Senator Hanson-Young's initial question

In the UK the practice of using X-rays to determine the ages of children for criminal proceedings is unlawful and indeed can lead to practitioners facing criminal charges of assault and professional misconduct. I refer to a letter available publicly that has been sent to the Minister for Immigration and the Minister for Home Affairs from peak medical bodies, including the Royal Australian College of Physicians, the Australian Paediatric Endocrine Group, the Australian and New Zealand Society for Paediatric Radiology and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists. It is dated 19 August. In this letter, which refers to the assessment of ages of asylum seekers and people facing people smuggling charges, the doctors refer to X-rays of teeth and wrists as unethical, unreliable and untrustworthy. When will the Minister take on notice these issues raised by these individuals and when will the Minister—(Time expired)

Response:

I am advised that such a letter was sent to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship on 19 August 2011.

The letter was subsequently provided to the Attorney-General's Department and the Attorney-General responded on 18 October 2011.

The Attorney-General's response highlighted that:

Senator Hanson-Young's supplementary questions

As the Government is defying the international scientific consensus on how dangerous it is to rely on these types of X-rays, the organisations listed in the previous question are refusing to participate in any type of X-rays for the Government. Is it the case that the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is relying primarily on one expert advice provided by Dr Vincent Low, who is indeed not a bone radiologist at all?

As I outlined earlier, in the UK the practice of this method is unlawful. Here in Australia, medical practitioners are refusing to conduct these examinations for the Government. Indeed, who is conducting these examinations for the Government? If it is only Dr Low, please explain why he is not, in fact, a bone radiologist and an expert in that field.

Response:

I am advised that it would not be appropriate to comment on the evidence led or qualifications of experts used by the AFP and CDPP in specific people prosecutions. The conduct of criminal cases is a matter for the AFP and CDPP.

However, the CDPP ensures that witnesses it calls to provide expert evidence are appropriately qualified. Expert evidence is open for scrutiny by the court and defence.

The UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has previously stated that it is appropriate to use wrist X-rays to determine age where requested by an asylum seeker.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has certified that the use of wrist X-rays for age determination is an appropriate use of a therapeutic procedure.