1. http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jan/28/christians-strip-off-perth-court-protest-detention-asylum-seeker-children

2. http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/11/bill-boosting-powers-to-deny-citizenship-may-breach-international-law

3. http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/02/asylum-seeker-activists-arrested-after-climbing-on-to-tony-abbotts-office-roof

The president of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), Prof Gillian Triggs, says her forthcoming report on children held in immigration detention is both “scientific and credible”.
Speaking at an international law conference at the University of Sydney, she said preparation of the report was a “life-changing experience” for her.
She visited 11 detention centers, conducted 1,129 interviews, held five public hearings, received 239 submissions, and took evidence from nine medical experts.
Throughout her investigation she was subject to vituperative criticism from the government and its supporters in the Murdoch press.
It was even suggested that it was improper to commence the inquiry after the Coalition came into government.
Triggs said on Friday that the inquiry is part of a 10-year follow-up review of the HRC’s 2004 findings on children in immigration detention. When the new review was being planned there had been limited releases of children and the average time in detention had been 1.3 years.
She said that the report will “tell the stories that moved me ... The findings are important ... Nothing should take away our humanity and the need to respond to these concerns.”
The stories she heard and the evidence she received are harrowing. Lives ruined by incarceration, uncertainty and crushed hope. The public submissions can be read here.
Triggs’s report has been with the attorney general, George Brandis, since 11 November. He is obliged to table it within 15 parliamentary sitting days of receiving it. If Brandis is true to his form, he will grit his teeth and table it at the last possible moment on Wednesday, or more likely earlier this week when the nation’s media is focused on other things.
She cannot reveal the details of her findings before the report is tabled, but from evidence to the HRC and information gleaned from the Department of Immigration and Border protection’s website certain conclusions can be drawn:
• Nearly a third of children in detention are diagnosed with serious mental illness, compared with 2% in the Australian community;
• Harsh, cramped conditions result in the spread of illness;
• Many children have been the victims of assaults;
• There are high levels of self-harm and suicide attempts by parents and children (highest among children);
• indefinite detention, with no access to lawyers, exacerbates the mental illness of parents;
• There has been no access to regular education on Christmas Island for at least a year;
• Here were 1,100 children in detention when the HRC started its inquiry – there are now 420.