Policy and the Media

Policy and the Media
To,
The President,
AASW,
National office level 7, 14-20 Blackwood street,
North Melbourne VIC 3051.
Date: 30/04/2019.
Sub: Drawing your attention for the media campaign in regard to the violation of their right to
access health.
Dear Miss Craik,
The recent article published in the newspaper “18 News” by the title “Put doctors behind bar”
has caught the reader’s attention and has attracted my attention too as a social worker. The
narration of the article briefs about the criminals to be treated inside the watch houses rather
than hospital given the vulnerability of security concern is a matter of serious concern and has
bought into light the violation of the rights to access health services. Well, the Australian
government does not discriminate on the basis of imprisonment and that every person
irrespective of their nationality, race or identity has an equal access to the heath care system
which is also a part of international treaty obligation. This report in the media has totally put the
already vulnerable segment into more precarious situation.

According to National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) , there are 4.3 million Australians
who have disability and amongst them 4,60,000 is under the age 65 years, they are the one who
has been funding for disability support and service through (NDIA) i.e. National Disability
Insurance Agency. Amongst all these vulnerable people prisoners are amongst the unhealthiest
people in Australia. This is evident from the fact that 80% of the Australian who is in prison is
because of their connection to illegal drug use amongst them 14% are indigenous and 18% are
non-English speaking background. They are the one who is very vulnerable to water borne
disease like Hepatitis C and a high prevalence of HIV contraction which requires medical
intervention at a regular basis. All these arguments led us to a fact that medical facilities in the
watch houses are not well equipped and alienating them from the basic health access to the
hospital would be like adding salt to their already bleeding wound. Such change in policy would
not only interfere with the rights of the prisoners but has a detrimental impact on the social and
ethical values. Citing shooting incident by a prisoner in the Ipswich hospital raised a red flag to
the security concern for the police department, which is a genuine concern of the police
department but denying access to the entire prisoner is generalizing them with a preconceived
notion. The concern of the security can be meted out by increasing the vigilance, increasing the
awareness, regular patrolling in the vulnerable location and much more strategic option can be
availed but denying access to the health facilities is a sheer display of discrimination in
realization of their basic rights (chief vigilance commission, 2019).
The code of ethics serves as a guiding route to the social worker and is based on certain principle
that helps the social worker to attain the professional aim. The values and practice as defined in
the code allows them to identify the objective of this profession, recognize the professional

obligation and understanding the determinants of ethical behavior. In realizing the objective of
the social work, one should be committed to three core values.
These are
1) Respect for person
2) Social Justice
3) Professional integrity.
Respect to person:
The social work profession holds that every person is unique, has inherent dignity and has certain
rights that needed to be valued. The purpose of this profession is to endorse the wellbeing of an
individual, autonomy, justice and social responsibility with consideration of individual rights.
Social Justice:
Societies should uphold social justice as their core obligation (Pierson,2001), so that every
individual has access to resources for their well being. It’s by reducing the barriers and
enhancing the opportunities especially to the underprivileged communities, individual or with
exceptional needs that allows them to bring justice and fairness in the society. Their
responsibilities in this regard are also to oppose any human rights violation and ensures that civil
and political rights are in tandem with the economic, social and cultural rights. Endorsing the
protection of the natural environment that are necessary for the well being of the society.