The full bench of the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court is set to consider whether 302 asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island should be brought to Australia. Lawyers for the group have written to the Australian government inviting a representative to Thursday's hearing. The PNG government is moving to close down the Manus Island detention centre following a court ruling the facility was illegal earlier this year, but no time frame has been set. Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association is calling for independent oversight of health care provided to detainees on Manus Island and Nauru. The association made the call in its submission to the Senate Inquiry on serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers detained offshore by Australia. In its submission, the association repeated its call for the release of all children from detention as well as citing examples of detainees not receiving adequate healthcare for sickness, injuries sustained from assault, and mental disorder following sexual assault. The association's vice president Dr Tony Bartone says the detainees should receive the same level of healthcare as any Australian citizen. He says the company providing healthcare for the detainees needs oversight. “A large proportion of all medical services in Australia are delivered by independent providers, however there are regulatory authorities which oversee the activities and the outcomes be it in a hospital system or be it in a private medical practice, that opportunity for that oversight or that review by the regulatory authority is not available in an offshore detention facility and that's why we're calling for an independent oversight to ensure that cases like the ones that we've become involved with aren't allowed to continue on without the appropriate systems. “It's not the job of the AMA to advocate on behalf of detainees who are patients in the various offshore facilities, there should be an appropriate pathway which by there can be a review of the care that's being given and the outcomes that are being achieved. The examples in the submission highlight failings or lack of appropriate scaling up or referral on of medical care that was required in those instances, care that was not available in the offshore facilities or the treatment centres nominated, there's required to be a referral on to more appropriate treatment facilities to ensure the appropriate medical outcomes,” Dr Bartone said. SOURCE: AAP/RNZI Next News >> PNG’s Kerowaii Hits New Zealand Stages
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