An asylum seeker is a person who has fled their country because they fear persecution because of their race, religion, nationality or political beliefs (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014). Compulsory detention in Australia was introduced in 1992 by the Keating government to control unauthorized refugees arriving in Australia by sea (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2013, p. 1). The policy allowed authorities to detain all unauthorized non-citizens, including children, until they had satisfactorily completed health, character and security checks and obtained a visa (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2013, pp. 5 -6). The Australian Migration Act was amended in 2005 to ensure that children can 164) state that refugees can only enter Australia if selected and authorized by the Australian Government. He identifies that every law and policy passed towards asylum seekers after 1996 aimed to reinforce this idea (Jupp, 2003, p. 164). Jupp (2003, pp. 164-165) argues that the best an asylum seeker can hope for is to be considered a refugee and receive temporary protection as Australia expects all refugees to be able to return home when there is less conflict. In 2002, East Timor became independent and Timorese refugees were sent back because their homeland was deemed safe (Jupp, 2003, p.104). During this period 20 children, aged 17 years and under, attempted to harm themselves mainly through hunger strikes 104. Six of these cases of hunger strikes were attempted by children under the age of 5 (Dudley, 2003, p. 104). Families in detention centers were found to have at least one psychological disorder for each family member104. 80% of children and 86% of adults had more than one psychological diagnosis (Dudley, 2003, p. 104). In contrast, the LIFE and NYSPS programs have strengthened resilience and addressed the stigma surrounding the issue, while the position taken in detention centers is to treat it as manipulative behavior (Dudley, 2003, p..