Kalocsanyiova, Erika ORCID: 0000-0002-3535-1084 and Essex, Ryan ORCID: 0000-0003-3497-3137 (2023) Health and healthcare in Australian immigration detention: a comparison between onshore and offshore data. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. ISSN 1747-9894 (Print), 2042-8650 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-03-2023-0031)

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Abstract

The study compares the impact of Australian onshore and offshore immigration detention centres on detainees' health and healthcare events. It utilises data extracted from the Australian government’s quarterly health reports, from 2014-2017. These reports contain a range of data about the health and wellbeing of detainees, including complaints/presenting symptoms and number of appointments and hospitalisations. To compare onshore and offshore datasets, we calculated the rate of health events per quarter against the estimated quarterly onshore and offshore detention population. We ran a series of two-proportion z-tests for each matched quarter to calculate median z and P values for all quarters. These were used as an indicator as to whether the observed differences between onshore and offshore events were statistically significant. The results suggest that both people onshore and offshore have substantial health needs, however, almost all rates were far higher offshore, with people more likely to raise a health related complaint, access health services and be prescribed medications, often at two to three times the rate of those in onshore detention. This paper adds to a modest body of literature that explains the health of people detained in Australian immigration detention centres. It is the first paper to our knowledge to explore health service utilisation and a range of other variables found in the Australian government’s quarterly health reports. These findings bolster the evidence which suggests that detention, and particularly offshore detention is particularly harmful to health.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	health; immigration detention; offshore detention; Australia; healthcare; refugee; asylum seeker
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > R Medicine (General) 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 Mental Health Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2023 09:20
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/45109

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