The immigration minister Peter Dutton has reappointed members of an expert advisory panel on asylum seekers and detention after it lay vacant for six months.
On Tuesday Dutton said the council was to hold its first meeting in Canberra this week since it became vacant in December 2014.
Four panel members – Dr Jamal Rifi, Libby Lloyd, Caz Coleman and Noel Clement – have not been reappointed. Two new panel members were appointed – Dr Georgia Paxton and Catherine Scarth. The remaining seven former members were reappointed.
“The new council will continue to provide independent advice on often complex and contentious issues covering immigration detention and the resolution of individuals’ immigration status,” Dutton said.
“Council members have been selected from diverse backgrounds and work in a variety of disciplines related to immigration and asylum seeker issues.
“I have appointed a reduced council of nine members, a number which balances the need for expert advice with the reduction of people in immigration detention.”
Scarth is the chief executive officer of Adult Multicultural Education Services, and Paxton leads an immigration child health clinic at Royal Melbourne hospital
Paris Aristotle, who is the CEO of Foundation House for Survivors of Torture, will continue to chair the council, which has been appointed for three years.
