Kaye Bernard
Kaye Bernard is an activist known for her work as a refugee advocate and labor leader on Australia's Christmas Island. She served as general secretary of the Union of Christmas Island Workers from 2010 to 2012.
Work[edit]
Bernard first became involved with refugee issues on Christmas Island around 2003.[1] Based in Perth, she began visiting the island to help those held at the major detention center there.[2] Bernard went on to spend many years working to help support and release Southeast Asian refugee families being detained there.[3][4][5] Her activism included campaigning, connecting refugees with legal services, visiting detainees, and writing about their situations in publications such as the Islander.[6][7]
Bernard's increasing involvement with issues on Christmas Island led her, in November 2010, to become general secretary of the Union of Christmas Island Workers (UCIW), settling full time on the island.[1][8][9][10] The union at the time was focused on representing the guards, cleaners, drivers, and administrative staff at the detention center, which at the time had a growing population of well over 2,000 detainees.[11][12]
In 2011, as general secretary of the union, Bernard led criticism of overcrowding, understaffing, and lack of access to medical care for detainees at the center.[13] She condemned privatization of the detention centers, which she argued had exacerbated poor conditions for both detainees and staff.[11]
She continued to lead the UCIW until March 2012.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Living on Christmas Island". ABC. 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ "Aussies locked out in Battle for Remote Beaches". Scoop News. 2006-01-30. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ "Kids Dumped Under Guard Offshore; Giant Leap Back". Scoop News. 2006-01-30. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ Brummitt, Chris (2013-05-09). "40 years on, fleeing Vietnamese take to seas again". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ Cowie, Tom (2010-12-16). "Is Christmas Island prepared for boat tragedy?". Crikey. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ Dimasi, Michelle Jasmin (2022-01-25). Hope, Solidarity and Death at the Australian Border: Christmas Island and Asylum Seekers. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-7927-9.
- ^ Dennis, Simone (2008). Christmas Island: An Anthropological Study. Cambria Press. ISBN 978-1-60497-510-9.
- ^ a b "Mr Gordon Thomson Secretary Union of Christmas Island Workers" (PDF). Fair Work Commission. 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ Nichols, Claire (2011-12-16). "Little to sing about on Christmas Island". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ Bernstein, Nina (2011-09-28). "Companies Use Immigration Crackdown to Turn a Profit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ a b Needham, Kirsty (2011-09-03). "Island detention centre operator blasted by union". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ "Christmas Island detainee population to double: report". ABC News. 2010-03-06. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ O'Keeffe, Patrick (2011-10-25). "Nightmare on Christmas Island: Serco's Australian Detention Center". CorpWatch. Retrieved 2024-04-25.