[Commpsych] Psychologists Against the Border Force Act

[Heather Gridley]

Community psychologists and fellow travellers concerned about the secrecy provisions in the Border Force Act might be interested in an initiative kicked off by Psychologists for Peace on facebook encouraging groups of psychologists to post photos of their group with “Psychologists Against the Border Force Act" banners https://www.facebook.com/PsychologistsForPeace?fref=ts – there’s one already up of a group from UQ – other groups and university departments might like to follow suit to emulate – feel free to plagiarise/adapt the message below from the P4P Convener.

And then get your people and your cameras out :)

Heather Gridley
Honorary Fellow
College of Arts
Victoria University
Melbourne, Australia

E: heather.gridley at vu.edu.au<mailto:heather.gridley at vu.edu.au>
Ph: +61 419113731


Dear colleagues,
I am write for two reasons. First, I am glad to say that the team has put together another great newsletter. You can download the PDF here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fwfrbkarv6n26ct/PFPnewsletter-winter2015.pdf?dl=0 (and it will shortly also be available online at the APS website,https://groups.psychology.org.au/pfp/ ).
Second, as members of Psychologists for Peace, I know many of you have concerns about recent policy developments and legislation that relate to the work of psychologists in immigration detention. As you may know already, last month the APS signed a joint statement by peak health professional bodies condemning the secrecy provisions in the Australian Border Force Act 2015 which threaten jail for up to two years for health and medical professional who disclose information about the conditions in Immigration Detention Centres: http://www.psychology.org.au/news/media_releases2015/15June/
I have been in discussion with the APS National Office and the conveners of some other interest groups about what else we might do to draw attention to the ethical dilemmas this legislation poses for psychologists and other health professionals working in those settings. Here are some options for members and groups to consider:
* Psychologists for Peace have set up a Facebook page where we hope to host photos of groups of "Psychologists Concerned about the Border Force Act" as some doctors and other health professionals have been doing. If you are interested in joining (or organising) a local event or cluster group to post their own photos, you can contact me by email (or go to the Facebook page here:  https://www.facebook.com/PsychologistsForPeace/photos/pb.112522668856912.-2207520000.1438590275./751102298332276/?type=3&theater ).
* There is a rally in Brisbane this Saturday and it would be great to see some psychologists alongside the doctors, nurses and social workers who have led these gatherings thus far:
Health and Welfare Professionals Rally Against the Border Force Act<https://mail.psychology.org.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=odMw7z01MUKWjpM3jIoTFZm1AW_eo9IIzUNlWC-n7d7sdVnuWeG-kpAxTel7nftQdd7SZ4DZTy8.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fevents%2f788803067894952%2f%3fref%3d3%26ref_newsfeed_story_type%3dregular%26feed_story_type%3d17%26action_history%3dnull>
Saturday 8 August at 11:00
Reddacliff Place<https://mail.psychology.org.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=odMw7z01MUKWjpM3jIoTFZm1AW_eo9IIzUNlWC-n7d7sdVnuWeG-kpAxTel7nftQdd7SZ4DZTy8.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fpages%2fReddacliff-Place%2f157488954272859> in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia<https://mail.psychology.org.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=odMw7z01MUKWjpM3jIoTFZm1AW_eo9IIzUNlWC-n7d7sdVnuWeG-kpAxTel7nftQdd7SZ4DZTy8.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fpages%2fBrisbane-Queensland-Australia%2f102146663160831>
https://www.facebook.com/events/788803067894952/<https://mail.psychology.org.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=odMw7z01MUKWjpM3jIoTFZm1AW_eo9IIzUNlWC-n7d7sdVnuWeG-kpAxTel7nftQdd7SZ4DZTy8.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fevents%2f788803067894952%2f>
* There are also some online petitions you might consider signing - the first is from a mental health nurse who spent 5 years working as the team leader of the Torture & Trauma Counselling team on Christmas Island: https://www.change.org/p/the-house-of-representatives-repeal-without-savings-the-australian-border-force-act-2015-no-40-2015-part-6-secrecy-and-disclosure-provisions-section-42-secrecy-to-eliminate-the-repealed-statute-completely
* There is also a Get Up petition urging the Government to ratify the Optional Protocol for the Convention against Torture (OPCAT):https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/ratification-of-the-optional-protocol-to-the-convention-against-torture
These are of course all matters of personal choice for individual members, but they do represent a way of letting the public know that psychologists share the concerns of other health professionals who have spoken out on the secrecy provisions of the Border Force Act.
Much of this discussion now comes in the context of last week's release by the APA of the Hoffmann Report on the APA's collusion with torture - we really need to examine our own processes to ensure we don't compromise our own ethical principles for political expedience, either as an organisation or as individual psychologists.
All good wishes,
Winnifred Louis, Psychologists for Peace
****************************************
Associate Professor Winnifred Louis +61 7 3346 9515
Office: Rm 407 McElwain Bldg (#24A)
School of Psychology, University of Queensland
http://www.psy.uq.edu.au/directory/index.html?id=529
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2996-982X
Gratuitous link: Psychologists for Peace https://groups.psychology.org.au/pfp/


This email, including any attachment, is intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. It is confidential and may contain personal information or be subject to legal professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use, disclosure, reproduction or storage of it is unauthorised. If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender via return email and delete it from your system immediately. Victoria University does not warrant that this email is free from viruses or defects and accepts no liability for any damage caused by such viruses or defects.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.curtin.edu.au/pipermail/commpsych/attachments/20150806/4e00f8eb/attachment-0001.htm