Table 5 Activities developed during 2006–2008/9 Detention Health Advisory Group advisory role to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship [76, 77, 81, 83, 84, 115, 116]
From: The need for a rights-based public health approach to Australian asylum seeker health
• Detention Health Advisory Group members visit and inspect places of immigration detention, including most active mainland places of immigration detention and Christmas Island. • Detention Health Advisory Group provides advice on the delivery of health services and the accommodation arrangements in place for children and people who have mental health or behavioural issues. • Detention Health Advisory Group Mental Health Sub-Group, created in March 2007, developed three new policies:  o Identification and support of people in immigration detention who are survivors of torture and trauma.  o Psychological support programme for the prevention of self-harm in immigration detention.  o Mental health screening for people in immigration detention. • In introducing the above three policies to detention staff and other key stakeholders between February and August 2000, training was provided to approximately 1200 personnel from seven different government and non-government agencies and organisations that had extensive contact with people in immigration detention. • Detention Health Advisory Group Mental Health Sub-Group also provides advice to the Department on mental health-related professional development for staff working in the detention environment and developing a model for the management of mental health concerns for places of immigration detention in remote locations. • Detention Health Advisory Group Community and Public Health Sub-Group, created in 2010, provide independent expert advice in relation to public health issues and issues relevant to the health of clients living in the community—both as Bridging Visa holders and in community detention. • Detention Health Advisory Group Community and Public Health Sub-Group also provide guidance with respect to persons at risk of tuberculosis and to health care for minors in immigration detention. |  |