Case joins more than a dozen failed attempts by immigration minister to block transfer of a child

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The federal court has again forced Peter Dutton to transfer a dangerously sick child from Nauru to Australia for treatment, dismissing arguments from the immigration minister’s representatives that the girl wasn’t seriously ill.

On Thursday the federal court’s Justice Robertson ordered an adolescent girl be transferred to Sydney for urgent medical care, accompanied by a family member.

“The applicant is at serious risk of permanent complications from her current medical situation and [I] find that the applicant appears to be at imminent risk to her health, both in the short term and in the long term,” wrote Robertson in his judgement.



“It follows that I do not accept the submission on behalf of the minister that the applicant has not shown sufficient evidence of the seriousness of her medical condition or sufficient urgency in terms of the treatment for her medical condition.”

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre confirmed the girl is now in Australia with a family member, and is receiving medical treatment.

The girl’s case joins more than a dozen attempts by the home affairs department to block the medical transfer of a child, attempts that have failed at or shortly prior to federal court action.

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“Despite their clear duty of care for people in offshore detention, the Australian government continues to fight in the courts to deny children the medical care they so desperately need, even when their lives are at grave and imminent risk,” the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre’s Natasha Blucher said.

“They are going to extreme lengths to play politics with childrens’ lives and it needs to end immediately.”

In early July, the child self-harmed and was eating and drinking very little, prompting hospitalisation. She was diagnosed with a severe major depressive disorder and pervasive refusal syndrome – a rare but serious child psychiatric disorder, also referred to as resignation syndrome, which has been documented at high rates among asylum seeker children, especially in Sweden.

“A child in this condition, if not treated, will develop severe dehydration, renal failure and malnutrition … Other complications include pneumonia, other infections, pressure sores and contractures,” said Prof Louise Newman in one of the medical reports presented to the court.

“The long-term risks of harm relate to the degree of metabolic compromise and organ failure and the duration of the unresponsive state.”

While the minister’s legal representatives also produced medical evidence from a qualified mental health nurse and a psychiatrist, Robertson ruled it was less persuasive.

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He said the evidence in favour of the girl’s transfer was more specific to her case, “more reasoned and given by apparently more senior and experienced practitioners in the relevant field”.

The department’s evidence came from an IHMS psychiatrist who determined “no clear evidence for a depressive illness”, with her symptoms “more likely to be a severe reaction to her situation”, but did agree there was no suitable place in Nauru for treatment if her health deteriorated.

The girl was represented by the National Justice Project, and principal solicitor George Newhouse has accused federal bureaucrats of “interfering in medical decisions”.

“You’re getting recommendations from doctors on Nauru, in the immigration detention in Australia and on Manus Island, that are being ignored and overruled by bureaucrats who are not qualified to make these decisions and are putting people’s lives at risk,” he told Radio National on Tuesday.

“We’ve run cases for about 12 kids who are at imminent risk of harm or even death on Nauru and we’ve had to argue every single time in court that the Australian government has a duty of care to these people. It’s a lie, it’s a myth to suggest that we don’t; but the government persists with it.”