Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year from all of us at D4R.
To all of the triaging doctors, consulting specialists, allied health professionals, medical students, advocates and other supporters from the community – we thank you for helping to protect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers to access appropriate medical treatment.
As a result of your dedicated and collaborative work we have been able to achieve positive outcomes for several individuals whom you have referred to us, especially those offshore. However, as always there is much more to do and 2016 has seen a massive surge in the number of cases of medical concern referred to D4R.
We also would like to thank all those who participated in the Doctors Marches in November around the country, which was an unprecedented display of solidarity among the health professionals in support of refugees and asylum seekers. While the original march was scheduled for Sydney, other marches and rallies took place from Hobart to Darwin, Newcastle to Cairns as well as in the large capital cities. Photos of these are available on our website. And we also thank our committed supporters who have been there for the other rallies and events during the year.
2016 has also been a great year for growth and development of the organisation, as the recent amendments to the Border Force Act (2015) following our High Court Challenge and the surge in media coverage this year of the healthcare of refugees indicate that our collective voice is being heard.
We look forward to continuing to work with you in 2017 and beyond.
