Detention Ban

Doctors and other health professionals no longer face a two-year jail term if they speak out about conditions inside the offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. The federal government has lifted a ban on health professionals speaking publicly about any possible abuse or detainees' medical conditions at the camps after changes to the Border Force Act. It comes as the group Doctors for Refugees mount a High Court challenge to the legislation. The Greens have welcomed the move, but leader Richard Di Natale says it doesn't go far enough.

A doctor who was the head of medical services for a private contractor running Australian detention centres says the system is akin to 'torture'. Source: SBS