This overview of the historical, social, and political contexts that have shaped Australia’s recent treatment of asylum seekers offers a clear-eyed view of the many dimensions of the asylum seeker predicament, including its psychological and humanitarian consequences, and lays out an agenda for change in policy. Yearning to Breathe Free is a passionate but informed work that is multi-faceted, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful. All royalties for this book go to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Table of Contents

Foreword - Professor Glyn Davis
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction - Dean Lusher and Nick Haslam

PART ONE: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND BACKGROUND
Introduction - Stuart Macintyre
CHAPTER 1: Australia’s response to asylum seekers - Dean Lusher, Nikola Balvin, Amy Nethery, and Joanne Tropea
CHAPTER 2: Been there, done that? - Klaus Neumann
CHAPTER 3: Boats and borders: asylum seekers and elections, 1977 and 2001 - Chelsea Piper Rodd

PART TWO: COMING TO AUSTRALIA
Introduction - Senator Lyn Allison
CHAPTER 4: Reassessing the Tampa - Peter Mares
CHAPTER 5: Perilous journeys - Arnold Zable
CHAPTER 6: The 'Pacific Solution' - Michael Gordon

PART THREE: TREATMENT OF ARRIVED ASYLUM SEEKERS
Introduction - Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser
CHAPTER 7: Not in my name: the People’s Inquiry into Detention - Linda Briskman and Chris Goddard
CHAPTER 8: The impact of immigration detention on the mental health of asylum seekers - Patricia Austin, Derrick Silove, and Zachary Steel
CHAPTER 9: Mandatory detention and brain structure and function - Christine Canty and Christopher Benjamin
CHAPTER 10: The invisibles: asylum seekers holding bridging visas - Margaret Theologou and Winsome Roberts

PART FOUR: RESETTLEMENT IN AUSTRALIA
Introduction - Sir Gustav Nossal
CHAPTER 11: Two asylum seekers’ stories - Erin Taylor
CHAPTER 12: Supporters of asylum seekers - Pamela Curr
CHAPTER 13: Meaning in life and social connectedness: the experience of Sudanese young people (re)settling in Australia - Susannah Tipping, Di Bretherton, and Ida Kaplan

PART FIVE: PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT ASYLUM SEEKERS
Introduction - Phillip Adams
CHAPTER 14: Those people - Carmen Lawrence
CHAPTER 15: The news media’s representation of asylum seekers - Angela Romano
CHAPTER 16: Words excusing exclusion of asylum seekers - Michael Clyne
CHAPTER 17: Attitudes towards asylum seekers: the psychology of exclusion - Nick Haslam and Anne Pedersen

PART SIX: THE FUTURE OF ASYLUM SEEKER POLICIES
Introduction - Lindsay Tanner MP
CHAPTER 18: Post-Palmer reform of the Immigration Department: progress and pitfalls - David Manne
CHAPTER 19: The need for a uniform community-based reception policy for asylum seekers in Australia - Grant Mitchell
CHAPTER 20: Australia’s refugee policy - Julian Burnside Q.C.

Index