Peter Dutton has indicated he will appeal a federal court’s decision to allow doctors to assess a patient’s need for a medical transfer from Nauru based on their medical file. The home affairs minister, who hopes to have the medevac legislation repealed by the parliament, has warned the ruling sets a precedent which could encourage people smugglers to restart the boats. But what does the medevac legislation actually say, what will Bromberg’s ruling mean, and what has happened since the legislation passed. What was the court case about? Justice Mordecai Bromberg was examining the case of a 29-year-old Iraqi refugee who had spent six years on Nauru, and had his application for a medical transfer to Australia blocked by Dutton’s department. It centred on whether doctors needed to speak to, or engage, with a patient directly, either through teleconference or in person, as set down in the legislation, or […]