Nauru detention guards carry special knives to save hanging asylum seekers Jessica* and her colleagues were heading into town for dinner one night when a commotion at the Nauru detention centre stopped them short. A few metres up, a young female asylum seeker was on a roof, pacing and threatening to jump. "She was wandering around really agitated and talking in [her native] language," Jessica recalled. As security guards discussed how to stop the impending tragedy, she simply felt anaesthetised. "I just went into block-out mode," she said. "Every time something happened or I heard a [disturbing] story it just hit me in the chest and I just shut it out, I wasn't allowing anything to penetrate." Now back in Australia, the former Save the Children teacher is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. A lunch with friends leaves her drained. The once-extroverted high school teacher who went to Nauru to "do something to help" is now withdrawn, receives therapy and cannot work. She remembers the screams of asylum seekers cutting the sticky Pacific air, and "seeing the lights go out" in their eyes of children she taught. "You just saw them progressively deteriorate … and that's incredibly distressing," she says, fearing the long-term effect on their lives. Jessica is among a host of former detention centre workers who say they suffered psychological harm while working in facilities in Australia and at Nauru and Manus Island. While the mental health issues suffered by asylum seekers is well-documented, the trauma and other conditions their teachers, carers and captors experienced has garnered less attention. Former workers have told Fairfax Media of nightmares, strained marriages and destroyed careers. One who thought he had seen it all as a former military worker said the horrors of Nauru were "mind blowing … if I had the time again I wouldn't have gone there at all". A lawyer says many affected workers are left in legal limbo – mired in lengthy, complex claims for compensation as Australian insurers and employers deny responsibility for the psychological damage, which often occurred in overseas detention centres. The exact number of former workers suffering mental harm is difficult to pinpoint. The symptoms can take years to emerge, there are numerous channels through which compensation can be sought and the department does not have oversight of claims involving contractors. In the four years to late 2015, seven claims were lodged with Comcare, the federal workplace insurer, for psychological injuries incurred in onshore detention centres. Three claims were accepted at a cost of more than $250,000. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection said it knew of seven other claims received by the Commonwealth involving psychological injuries to workers at onshore immigration detention in that period, but no money had yet been paid. Two law firms – Maurice Blackburn and Shine Lawyers – are acting in a total of 17 cases involving mental harm to detention centre workers, and a further 10 cases are under investigation. It is understood state-based workers' compensation agencies are also handling such claims. Some damages claims are heard by the courts, such as the case of Martin Humphrey Hill, who was hired as a Nauru security guard in September 2012 by subcontractor Wilson. Hill claimed he was given a brief induction that included travel arrangements and weather conditions at Nauru. On his first deployment a few days later, Hill says he responded to a riot in which detainees were armed with makeshift weapons, saw asylum seekers detained in isolation cells and cut down a detainee who had tried to commit suicide by hanging. On his second stint, he responded to a second suicide attempt by a detainee, fended off another riot, witnessed detainees on a hunger strike and was "required to respond to violent and sexual assaults" between detainees, according to his statement of claim to the Supreme Court of Queensland. The case was heard last September and a judgment is pending. Hill said he suffers permanent anxiety, distress, fear and agoraphobia. He is suing Wilson, contractor Broadspectrum, formerly Transfield, which provides major services at offshore detention centres, and the Commonwealth – claiming each should have known there was a real risk of psychiatric and other injury for employees at Nauru. A defence had not been filed at the time of writing. Hill's experience is echoed by another former Wilson worker, Jon Nichols, who says he is being treated for post traumatic stress disorder and other mental harm following deployments to Nauru over almost two years until last June. "Seeing people slash themselves with razor blades, cutting people down and performing CPR on them because they've hung themselves after a conversation with a lawyer – all of those sorts of things are what's triggered me to be in the position I am now," Nichols says. Like other scarred former staff, he can no longer work full time, and fears he will lose his Brisbane home. The married father of four is heavily medicated to ward off nightmares and bouts of anger and aggression. His wife is "very bitter towards Nauru because it took away her husband". Of the alleged attempted hanging, Nichols says: "Honestly I thought he was dead … I'd never been involved in anything like that in my life. In the limited training that was provided to us by Wilson, I certainly wasn't prepared for that." He is seeking compensation from Wilson Security, which is part of the Wilson group. Nichols, 40, gave evidence at a Senate inquiry into Nauru last year, in which he claimed to have witnessed the aftermath of waterboarding of detainees by guards. Wilson dismissed his evidence as "preposterous". Departmental guidelines provided to Nauru workers, obtained by Fairfax Media, state that all staff should know how to "cut down a transferee who is hanging". So-called "cut-down knives" are available at the camp and carried by staff in a belt pouch. Where possible, the department says at least two staff should help someone found hanging – one to support their weight and the other to cut the noose. "If only one staff member is available, he or she must not waste time and must endeavour to cut the noose whilst giving some support to the body," the guidelines state. Another former Wilson worker told of a female colleague who saw an asylum seeker attempt to hang themselves and "couldn't handle it". "She never had a background in policing or the army or anything like that. She was just a nice person. She witnessed it and she never came back." He recalled "the mutilation" of asylum seekers, including one boy who sewed his lips together. "It was quite a thick thread, thick as twine. There was blood, it would have been extremely painful. He couldn't speak but he was groaning and moaning and other people in the tent were screaming," the former worker said. He was "fairly shocked", despite his former military experience. "It dredges up things you'd forgotten about [from the military], things that you'd buried or put away – it's back in your face again," he said. "You become emotionally involved with these people." Several former Wilson workers told Fairfax Media that staff were offered counselling following major incidents, but often declined the offer for fear the information would get back to their employer. Maurice Blackburn principal Alison Barrett said detention centre workers suffering psychological injuries had lost income and faced hefty medical bills, as well as being "very fragile emotionally". "The uphill battle they are facing to try and get their basic entitlements just adds to the difficulties," she said, adding that compensation in such cases was "not a straightforward process". She said some older employment contracts for detention centre workers contained no compensation provisions at all – instead referring to travel insurance policies that generally did not cover income loss or medical treatment in Australia. More recent contracts are somewhat improved but many affected workers are still confused about their rights and face long waits to have claims accepted. She said government and private insurers have rejected some claims outright, and some workers have been told to pursue claims with the governments of Nauru or Papua New Guinea. "We've got issues around who is going to put their hand up to take some level of responsibility for people's losses," Ms Barrett said. The department said it "takes seriously its obligations to provide a safe workplace" but could not comment on matters before the court. "We encourage a positive culture of reporting and awareness so we can take early steps to identify risk and where injury does occur, provide rehabilitation and support," it said. A spokesman for Save the Children said staff at Nauru dealt with "the terrible human consequences" of Australia's offshore detention policy and it was not surprising some suffered ongoing emotional impacts, for which they received support. A Wilson Security spokeswoman said it had "a proven record with an independently assured programme in place that addresses employee health and safety in the workplace. We meet all our obligations and have taken every action possible to ensure that current and former staff are appropriately protected". Broadspectrum said looking after the wellbeing of its staff was "embedded in our core values. Our global management system and safety culture are distinctive features and characteristics of which we are very proud". Serco, which manages the onshore detention network, did not provide comment. Jessica said even with the best of care in Australia, her mental health issues will take time to conquer. She fears for asylum seekers and refugees at Nauru, especially children, who she says have not received the same level of treatment. "There is a huge sense of survivor guilt ... that I got out but I've left these people behind and they are still suffering," she said. * Not her real name Lifeline 131 114, beyondblue 1300 224 636 Follow us on Twitter

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