Citation

Hedrick K, Borschmann R. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Public Health 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Public Health Association of Australia, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1753-6405.13061

PMID

33347736

Abstract

There was a 9.5% increase in emergency department presentations for self‐harm across all ages in the state of Victoria, Australia, over a recent six‐week period compared to the same time in 2019.1 Prompted by this acute rise (which included a 33% spike in presentations of young people aged <18 years), and by concerns regarding the adverse mental health impacts of the enforced COVID‐19 lockdown, the State Government announced an additional $60 million in funding to support the mental health of Victorians2 - a swift response to such a public health concern. But what of other vulnerable populations in Australia, such as asylum seekers in immigration detention, who are already at a markedly increased risk of self‐harm3 and poor mental health,4 and who also require an urgent public health intervention?

We recently examined self‐harm among asylum seekers in Australia over a 12‐month period according to the type of detention in which they were held: Immigration Detention Centres (IDCs), Immigration Transit Accommodation (ITAs), and Alternative Places of Detention (APODs).5 Rates of self‐harm among those detained in IDCs, APODs, and ITAs were calculated to be 187 times, 220 times, and 376 times higher than the hospital‐treated rates of self‐harm reported in the Australian general community, respectively.6 Furthermore, across the entire immigration detention population, self‐harm rates were found to have increased by an average of 15% since an earlier investigation into self‐harm in the onshore detention network just three years earlier.7

The Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) acknowledged in August that lockdowns "produce a range of undesirable effects",8 including those related to mental health vulnerabilities. A comprehensive response to this emerging mental health crisis...

Language: en