Recommendation 235
- Department of Home Affairs
The Australian Government operates a generous Humanitarian Programme, including providing assisted passage, medical and related services for refugee entrants and humanitarian applicants and ensures, under policy settings, that refugee and humanitarian applicants are not excluded due to a health condition or disability. This includes ensuring that refugees and humanitarian applicants receive appropriate treatment for medical conditions prior to travel, and that arrangements are made for any required medical follow-up and specialist appointments following arrival in Australia.
The Australian Government will continue to promote the safety of migrants and refugees and maintain high standards of health care and other services, including to people held in immigration detention.
The Australian Government takes the care and wellbeing of vulnerable people in immigration detention seriously. People in immigration detention are accommodated in facilities most appropriate to their circumstances and needs. All people in immigration detention are provided with health care that is broadly commensurate with the standard available under Australia's public health system.
It remains the Australian Government's position that children should not be held in immigration detention centres, but are accommodated in alternative places of detention or community detention. All school-aged children, regardless of their immigration status, have the opportunity to access education in accordance with Australian community standards, federal legislation, and the relevant state or territory legislation for the state or territory in which they accommodated.