Doctors demand political fix in asylum debate

A proposed change to the oversight of medical treatment for asylum-seekers has yet to gain the support of doctors.

Federal President of the AMA Dr Tony Bartone. Picture: Kym Smith

The latest proposed change to the oversight of medical treatment for asylum-seekers held offshore has yet to gain the support of the Australian Medical Association.

The AMA and other health groups had backed a bid by ­independent MP Kerryn Phelps to give doctors a greater say over medical transfers to Australia.

With Prime Minister Scott Morrison now proposing an ­alternative — a new medical transfer clinical assurance panel reporting to the minister — AMA president Tony Bartone yesterday called on parliament to ­resolve the issue.

The panel would be chaired by the government’s Chief Medical Officer, and include AMA nominees, but with doctors seemingly having less authority than Dr Phelps proposed.

It also comes after several changes of the medical advisory roles in immigration under the Coalition.

Dr Bartone said the AMA had given in-principle support to the Phelps proposal because it was the closest to what the organisation had been calling for since 2015. “I was advised of the government proposal very late last week, but am yet to see the terms of reference or more detail,” Dr Bartone said yesterday.

“We will look at what the government is proposing. But, at its core, this is about what is best for the health of asylum-seekers and refugees, and it is the role and ­responsibility of the parliament of Australia to sort this out.”

After former prime minister Tony Abbott warned the Phelps proposal was risky because doctors “always err on the side of compassion”, former AMA president-turned-Labor candidate Brian Owler suggested Australian politics needed a “big healthy dose of compassion”.

Dr Phelps, also a former AMA president, said she had not seen the detail of the government proposal but believed hers was ­superior.

The AMA has called for a ­national statutory body of clinical experts, independent of government, with the power to investigate and advise on the health of asylum-seekers and refugees.

“It is heartening to see that both major parties are finally starting to listen,” Dr Bartone said. “Both parties have come to this very late, and parliament should come together now and solve this.”