FRX17 as litigation representative for FRM17 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

FRX17, as litigation representative for FRM17, a young girl who has been recognised as a refugee, brought an action against the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection seeking an interlocutory injunction to be transferred from Nauru so that she can receive appropriate mental health care treatment. FRM17 had attempted suicide and was experiencing suicidal ideation. Medical evidence demonstrated that there was an extreme risk that FRM17 would commit suicide or self-harm and required immediate admission to a specialist child mental health facility. Such a facility was not available on Nauru. The court was required to decide whether the respondents owed a duty of care to protect FRM17 from harm and whether the content of the duty included a duty to provide a level of medical care which was reasonably designed to meet her mental health care needs. The court also needed to determine where the balance of convenience lay. The court held that there was a serious question to be tried as to whether the respondents owed a duty of care to provide FRM17 with a level of medical care which was reasonably designed to meet her mental health care needs, and in the circumstances of the present case, the content of the duty included a duty to remove FRM17 from Nauru to a place where she could be admitted for inpatient assessment and treatment in a specialist child mental health facility. The court also held that the balance of convenience strongly favoured the grant of an injunction. An injunction was granted to require the respondents to transfer FRM17 to a place where she can receive appropriate treatment in accordance with the recommendations of a medical expert.