Government agrees for girl to be moved for medical care just before court hearing takes place

A young refugee girl held by Australia on Nauru, who is suffering acute mental health problems and has attempted suicide three times, will be moved to Australia for medical care as soon as Sunday, after the government agreed at the last minute to her transfer.

Lawyers from Maurice Blackburn lodged an urgent application for the girl’s transfer in the federal court on Friday night, citing a medical report dated 5 April from the government’s medical contractor IHMS, warning that the girl was at serious risk of further attempts on her life.

The government has previously fought medical transfers for children in court, but in this case, just before a court hearing on Saturday morning, it acquiesced to the girl’s transfer.

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In court, Dutton’s legal counsel Ashlee Briffa said flights were being booked for the girl, along with her father and brother, to travel to Australia on Sunday afternoon.

Briffa said the medical report on the girl’s health -had been received by the department only on Friday.

“We were made aware of the medical report less than 24 hours ago,’ she said.

“There is a flight tomorrow. This has all happened very quickly.”

Twice in the past four months, lawyers have won court injunctions ordering that children at acute risk of suicide be removed from Nauru to a place where they can be adequately cared for. In those cases, the Australian government fought the application in court, arguing the children - as young as 10 - should remain on the island, but lost both cases.

The girl in the latest case, not yet a teenager, will be moved to Australia, but it is not known to where.

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The girl attempted suicide for the third time just days ago, and is currently under 24-hour surveillance by security guards because of the high risk of self-harm. She has been under “high-watch” surveillance – often as close as arm’s length – on-and-off for a month.

There are no dedicated child psychiatric services on Nauru, the federal court has been told in previous cases, and IHMS says the Nauru hospital is unsafe for surgery and other complex interventions.

The court has also ruled that the Australia has a legal duty of care to those it holds in its offshore processing regime.

Outside court, the social justice practice manager with Maurice Blackburn, Jennifer Kanis, said the girl had been held on Nauru for several years, and had not been receiving adequate medical treatment.

“We are greatly relieved that the federal government has finally accepted that this is a desperate situation where urgent medical treatment is needed for the welfare and wellbeing of this child,” she said.

Kanis said she could not explain why the government was not aware of the girl’s medical report, prepared by its own health contractor.



“We don’t know why the government are saying they haven’t been provided with that report.”

She said it should not have – again – taking the potential of court-ordered intervention for the Australian government to properly uphold its duty of care to children it held offshore.

“The federal government’s continuing treatment of children in detention will remain one of the dark and shameful chapters of our history. These children deserve much better, particularly with respect to providing critical medical and other health services,” Kanis said.

• Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636