The Gillard Government was repeatedly warned of the high risk of suicides and self-harm in immigration detention by its own panel of experts and failed to implement changes that may have prevented deaths, according to documents obtained by Fairfax Media.
A letter sent by the Detention Health Advisory Group 11 months ago warned of ''the high probability'' of more suicides after three people took their lives at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, and lamented that its advice had been ''largely disregarded''.
The chair of the panel, Professor Louise Newman, said in the letter, ''The three recent suicides in Villawood have unfortunately affirmed our fears and they may have been preventable with appropriate implementation [of recommendations].
''For some time we have recognised the inadequacies in the care of individuals thought to be at risk of suicide and self-harm, which may constitute a serious breach of duty of care.''
Not one of the three who committed suicide late last year had received the psychological care recommended by the panel, according to the letter, obtained under freedom of information legislation.
After her mental health subgroup met department officials yesterday after this week's sixth suicide, Professor Newman said, ''We are now in a situation of high imminent risk of further deaths in the system''.
Her group's call for the Government to urgently review the treatment of vulnerable detainees within the immigration system, and to release all those at risk into appropriate community care, was backed yesterday by leading mental health bodies, including the Australian Psychological Society, the Public Health Association of Australia and the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses.
Fairfax Media can reveal the panel first expressed frustration that its recommendations were being ignored more than eight months before tensions spilled over at the Christmas Island Detention Centre early this year.
Although the secretary of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Andrew Metcalfe, agreed that the review would be conducted ''early in 2011'', a spokesperson yesterday said it was not expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year. The department pointed to a range of areas where the group's recommendations had been implemented, especially in relation to Christmas Island.
The department was concerned about rates of self harm in detention and was rolling out ''revised mental health awareness'' and training programs across the detention network, it said.
A spokesman for immigration minister Chris Bowen also defended the Government's handling of mental health issues that were ''particularly complex'' with no easy solutions.
But he added, ''The Government is committed to maintaining a mandatory detention system, with asylum-seekers to be held for an initial period in detention for the appropriate security, health and identity checks.''
The department raised little prospect of significant numbers of single men being moved, saying that it was focusing on moving family groups and unaccompanied minors into the community in coming months.
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