Wollongong protesters have urged the government to heed warnings from doctors about Australia's treatment of refugees.
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At a gathering held on Saturday outside the town hall, members of the Refugee Action Collective Illawarra (RACI) joined with medical students and Greens politicians to highlight the debate over the medevac laws.
The laws, which were passed against government wishes before the election this year, make it easier for refugees and asylum seekers held in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to receive transfers to Australia for medical treatment.
The government has been seeking to overturn the laws, and voted in July to repeal them. The Senate then referred the legislation to a committee and has been awaiting its report, which was released last week.
The fate of the laws now rests in the hands of Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, who is yet to decide how she plans to vote. The bill is expected to go to the Senate in November.
RACI member Marion Jacka said protesters hoped to draw attention to the need for the laws to remain.
"There's a huge amount of evidence about the very serious physical and mental conditions facing refugees on Manus and Nauru, and the inadequacy of medical facilities there," she said.
"In the Senate inquiry recently, all submissions except one [the Department of Home Affairs] argued for maintaining the provisions.
"Twelve peak medical bodies - the Australian Medical Association included - have called on the government to maintain them, saying it is necessary that people get treatment when they need it."
"The government needs to listen to these doctors."
A number of young Illawarra doctors - who have been vocal about the inhumane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers - joined the protest.
Medical student Hannah Clements said the medevac laws were important, but that action on refugees needed to go one step further.
"We know that indefinite detention harms health and is illegal, so we need to end it," she said.
"We believe we need to close the offshore camps, have on-shore processing and a finite period of detention which doesn't exceed 45 days."
Ms Clements and her partner, doctor Javed Badyari, have spent three months sleeping out in Wollongong Mall as part of their campaign: 'Indefinite Sleepout to End Indefinite Detention'.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
