Essex, Ryan ORCID: 0000-0003-3497-3137 and Dudley, Michael (2023) Resistance and the delivery of healthcare in Australian immigration detention centres. Monash Bioethics Review. ISSN 1321-2753 (Print), 1836-6716 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40592-023-00182-y)

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Abstract

There are few issues that have been as vexing for the Australian healthcare community as the Australian governments policy of mandatory, indefinite, immigration detention. While many concepts have been used to begin to describe the many dilemmas faced by healthcare professionals and their resolution, they are limited, perhaps most fundamentally by the fact that immigration detention is antithetical to health and wellbeing. Furthermore, and while most advice recognises that the abolition of detention is the only option in overcoming these issues, it provides little guidance on how action within detention could contribute to this. Drawing on the work of political theorists and the broader sociological literature, we will introduce and apply a form of action that has not yet been considered for healthcare workers within detention, resistance. We will draw on several examples from the literature to show how everyday resistance could be enacted in healthcare and immigration detention settings. We argue that the concept of resistance has several conceptual and practical advantages over much existing guidance for healthcare workers in these environments, namely that it politicises care and has synergies with other efforts aimed at the abolition of detention. We also offer some reflections on the justifiability of such action, arguing that such action is largely consistent with the existing guidance produced by all major healthcare bodies in Australia.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	refugee; asylum seeker; immigration detention; health; healthcare; resistance; protest
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Professional Workforce Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Health Sciences (HEA)
Last Modified:	15 Nov 2023 11:31
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/44146

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