The Doctors' Reform Society is the latest group to throw its support behind a handful of Victorian doctors who say they would refuse to discharge asylum seeker children back into detention.
The Royal Children's Hospital doctors say they're concerned about the welfare of their patients and say it's unethical to return them to what they say are unsafe conditions.
Federal laws threaten two years' jail for health workers who speak out against conditions inside immigration detention centres.
Doctors' Reform Society Vice President Dr Con Costa says the laws are draconian and must be reversed.
Victoria's health minister Jill Hennessy and the Australian Medical Association are also backing the staff at the Royal Children's Hospital in their demands for an end to immigration detention for the children of asylum seekers.
"Detention harms children, and the only way we can help them is to stop detention," said senior RCH pediatrician Professor Paul Monagle.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told the Herald Sun he would not support a change in government policy.
"I understand the concern of doctors, but the Defence and Border Force staff on our vessels who were pulling dead kids out of the water don't want the boats to restart," he said.
