Children as young as nine have been involved in a spate of self-harm incidents in immigration detention facilities, despite child psychiatrists issuing repeated warnings over the past decade of the dangers of detaining children.
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The incidents include children slashing their wrists, arms and bodies with razor blades, a 17-year-old boy who tried to hang himself, and another 17-year-old boy who repeatedly bashed his head against a metal pole after hearing that a review of his case had failed. The boy had to be taken to hospital.
A nine-year-old boy, the youngest child known to have hurt himself in the 16-month period, deliberately overdosed on 10 of his mother's Panadeine tablets. He told an interpreter ''he was going crazy'' in detention, and took the drugs knowing what they were and what they could do to him.
The documents, released to asylum seeker advocates in Darwin, say that staff of the detention service provider, Serco, were not qualified to judge whether the incidents were attempted suicides or self-harm, and so all incidents were listed as being self-harm.
The documents show there were 26 self-harm incidents involving children at Darwin's two detention facilities between August 2010 and November 2011. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship says there has since been a ''significant decrease'' in self-harm incidents, but a spokeswoman was unable to be specific.
Louise Newman, the chairwoman of the mental health group advising the government, and professor of developmental psychiatry at Monash University, said the incidents were ''entirely predictable''.
Department figures show that in December, there were 1221 children living in immigration detention facilities, 732 had been given approval to live in the community, and 90 were living in the community on bridging visas.
But Professor Newman said research had clearly shown that prolonged detention was linked to mental health deterioration.
''There's good evidence of the harmful effects of detention on the mental health of children and adults, and so these behaviours that are starting to emerge now are entirely predictable.''
She said children now being detained on Manus Island were of particular concern, and she expected similar incidents to emerge on the island.
The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network said the Department of Immigration and Citizenship took more than nine months to release the documents.
Fernanda Dahlstrom, a spokeswoman for the asylum seeker advocates, said children detained in other detention centres were likely to have gone through the same trauma as those described in the Darwin documents.
''Months after the announcement that children will be sent offshore, they still have not been told how long they will have to endure offshore detention,'' she said.
''In the months and years to come, an epidemic of child self-harm is likely to occur on Manus Island. If it does, the government cannot say they did not see it coming.''
Anyone seeking information or support can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
