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Life at Woomera. (Letters).
SIR: I would like to comment on a letter in your April issue from a Mr Patrick Gethin, in regard to detention centres.
My partner and I both work at Woomera as detention officers and have done so for quite some time. It is obvious that Mr Gethin has not entered this centre, as he has no idea what he is speaking of. The centres are not run under harsh regimes, and the condition of the centres is disgusting only after the residents or protesters have destroyed everything during their doting.
As for the qualifications and intelligence of detention officers, the majority, including my partner and I, have a background in corrections, police services, the military or security. Exceptional people skills are a prerequisite, and our jobs are not to be compared to those of security guards, as no security guard I know has ever encountered the situations that we encounter daily, nor are they trained to deal with these situations.
Would-be employees are required to undertake psychological testing along with numerous other tests before being considered for employment, which is not a requirement for most people employed in Australia. In addition, all staff undertake 240 hours of training with a particular emphasis on using people skills to solve problems.
Detention officers work a sixty-hour-week minimum and work under strict policies and procedures. Officers are closely monitored by management and are held accountable for any possible mis-doings. Decisions regarding punishment or visits are not made on the whims of ...
- SA: Baktiari boy beaten by Woomera guards - refugee advocate - 2.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire July 31, 2002 700+ words
...activities at the time, the department said. However, in a separate incident, several children threw rocks at detention centre staff and two detention officers suffered abrasions as a result, the department said. AAP scl/jmd/de
- NASA revives hopes for Woomera.
- News wire article from: Bulletin Wire August 21, 2006 700+ words
...based company has revived hopes that Woomera will be the launch site for rockets...NASA contract to launch rockets from Woomera, in South Australia's far north. Kistler first announced plans to use Woomera to operate re-useable rockets almost...
- Australia's Woomera ELV Range heads for commercial rebirth. (Australian town's...
- Newspaper article from: Satellite News December 18, 1989 700+ words
AUSTRALIA'S WOOMERA ELV RANGE HEADS FOR COMMERCIAL REBIRTH Australia's remote Woomera Rocket Range, once one of the biggest and most...guided weapons project in 1980, the town of Woomera is optimistic about its future. Thirteen companies...
- FED: Lawyers back boys' stories of mistreatment at Woomera.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire July 22, 2002 700+ words
...July 22 AAP - A lawyer representing Woomera detainees has denied that two young boys...made up stories about life in detention. Woomera escapees Alamdar and Montazar Baktiari...saying they suffered cuts from razor wire. Woomera Lawyers' Group representative Jeremy...
- WOOMERA POISED TO CLOSE.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire February 27, 2003 700+ words
...notorious immigration detention centre at Woomera may be closed by Easter as the Federal...children, live in a housing project in the Woomera township. The government's Immigration...Advisory Group recommended early last year Woomera be closed but progress has been slow while...
- Woomera hunger strike won't be the last - lawyers.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire July 11, 2002 700+ words
...AAP - A 16-day hunger strike at the Woomera detention centre would not be the last, lawyers warned today. Woomera Lawyers Group spokesman Jeremy Moore...have been so many examples of misery at Woomera that this hunger strike, regrettably...
- SA: Woomera to witness biggest launch in 30 years today.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire July 11, 2002 700+ words
...metre model jet will be launched at Woomera, the most celebrated launch to take place...in 30 years. Researchers have been at Woomera staging a 15-day countdown to the National...the model will assess its performance. Woomera area administrator Bob McKenzie said it...
- Australia to close troubled Woomera detention camp Former inmates have...
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire March 13, 2003 700+ words
...Roger Maynard in Sydney The controversial Woomera detention centre in the heart of the South...Augusta, also in South Australia. The Woomera camp will be maintained as a contingency...detention centre will be in sharp contrast to Woomera, which inmates have variously described...
- Woomera 2002 festival of freedoms: experiencing community in tragic recognition...
- Magazine article from: Journal of Australian Studies Monson, David March 1, 2003 700+ words
The protesters who 'liberated' the Woomera detainees preach freedom and tolerance...unfolded in the three days of the Easter Woomera protest were seemingly 'messy' and confused...freedom. (4) The 'messiness' of the Woomera protest was due to the interplay between...
- SA: Wife of Woomera detainee dies in Bali bombings.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire October 17, 2002 700+ words
...ADELAIDE, Oct 17 AAP - The wife of a Woomera detainee has died from burns suffered...was today under suicide watch at the Woomera detention centre in South Australia...Management (ACM), which manages the Woomera centre, had approved the detainee's...
Source: HighBeam Research, Life at Woomera. (Letters).