One of Australia's leading experts in the mental health effects of the Temporary Protection Visa system, UniSA's Dr Nicholas Procter says the news that some 9,500 TPV holders will be able to apply for permanent residence in Australia will go a long way to helping traumatised refugees to recover.
"We could indulge in cynicism about the announcement, but what gives me hope is that the decision to allow these people to stay in Australia will actually help them to recover," Dr Procter said.
"At the end of the day, what is important is people's lives and this will give thousands of people who have suffered extraordinary trauma in their countries of origin and ongoing traumatising circumstances in Australia, a chance to heal."
Dr Procter has been working with refugees and TPV holders looking at the effects of trauma and dislocation on mental health since the early 1990s with Serbian refugees and most recently with TPV holders from Afghanistan and Iran.
Documenting the effects, he has found that the experience of non acceptance in a new country has enormous consequences in undermining mental health.
"Fear is a huge factor in the way they view the world, fear and an inability to trust," he says.
"Through the work I have been doing with TPV holders in South Australia there have been some core issues identified which are very much tied to the temporary nature of their visas.
"They experience an inability to see a future for themselves, a sense of abiding depression and sadness including suicidal ideation, fear that personal information will be used to prejudice against them here in Australia and against their families back home and because of this a reluctance to engage with their world and seek help.
"These feelings have added to the trauma of the refugee story - people who generally have fled their homeland in dire circumstances - people who have seen death and persecution in very personal ways."
Procter said the security about staying in Australia will help these people build new and valuable lives.
"It is interesting that so many TPV holders have a strong ambition to contribute to this country because they have a strong sense of what Australia represents.
"Now they will have the chance to share the values that they have so often told me gave them hope about coming to Australia when there was no choice but to leave their homelands - values such as individualism, independence, self reliance, and tolerance."
Procter said he believed TPV holders would continue to need the strong support of the many Australians who had already given them a fair go.
"There are hundreds, indeed thousands of Australians who have been supporting these people over the past five years - with friendship and kindness, employment, emotional and physical support," he said.
"Freedom and a permanent home will have a strong role in the psychological healing process for refugees but they will still have to cope with the factors that affect all refugees - post traumatic stress, depression and worry and fears for family and friends back home.
"The key to helping them to succeed here is in providing acceptance and understanding and giving them the opportunity to prove themselves through work, education and community involvement.
"It is a happy day for them, but it is only the beginning of the life rebuilding process - at least without the uncertainty about their status in Australia they have a foundation from which they can reconstruct their lives."
ARC grant funds new line of therapy for HIV and cancer prevention
The development of a new line of therapy for preventing major diseases such as HIV and cancer will receive a major boost following an Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant won by University of South Australia researchers and biotech company Starpharma Holdings Limited.
Associate Professor Clive Prestidge and Professor Hans Griesser from UniSA's Ian Wark Research Institute will conduct research in partnership with Dr Guy Krippner, Head of Chemistry at Starpharma, on novel therapies involving dendrimers that could have enormous social and economic benefits nationally and internationally.
Described as highly branched, tree-like structures, dendrimers are an unusual class of nanoparticles (or macro molecules) that act as carriers for drugs or as pharmaceutically active treatments, according to Professor Prestidge.
Starpharma is widely recognised as the world leader in the development of dendrimer-based pharmaceuticals, having recently initiated human clinical trials of another agent, VivaGel for prevention of sexual transmission of HIV.
"Dendrimers offer many advantages over conventional pharmaceutical treatments, particularly in relation to their high efficiency, low toxicity, high stability and ease of manufacture. When compared with conventional drug molecules, dendrimers have a much higher level of activity on cell and virus particle surfaces," Professor Prestidge said.
"They offer exciting possibilities in fighting sexually transmitted disease, respiratory viruses, systemic viral disease, tumours, tropical disease and treatments to prevent disease.
"The purpose of our research will be to understand the nature of the interaction between dendrimers and the cell membranes of viruses, cancer cells and bacteria. We will be researching new methods for investigating dendrimers and develop a model for their interactive properties. We believe these will assist in the design and development of dendrimer-based pharmaceutical products and novel drug delivery vehicles with potentially billion dollar markets," Professor Prestidge said.
UniSA has been awarded $2.8 million in ARC Linkage Project grants over the next three years and has been placed tenth among the universities nationally.
Researchers in chemical sciences were the big winners followed by education, engineering, environmental and mathematical sciences. A total of 13 grants was awarded plus three with
