The letter, signed by more than 1800 scholars from across the country, calls on the government to “end its harmful policies of offshore processing, boat turnbacks and the mandatory detention of people seeking asylum”.

Clare Shamier, an expert on international development at La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus, labelled the government’s detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island “illegal” and its treatment of asylum seekers as tantamount to war crimes.

“It’s time our government started taking notice of people that are not supportive of these policies, particularly when we’re talking about the torture of people in these detention centres,” Dr Shamier said.

“And when we’ve got media blackouts where we’re not allowed to report on it, we’re not allowed to know what’s going on in these places, that’s when we should stand up and take notice.”

Dr Shamier said despite tough asylum seeker policies being seen as an election-winner by many in federal politics, opening up discussion on the issue could help change some negative attitudes within the Australian community.

“I just think at the end of the day what we need to be doing is to come up with more effective policies,” she said.

“We need to start changing the conversation, that these people are not illegal, that what they’re doing is not a breach of any international laws and they are allowed to seek asylum.”

The letter also calls on the government to convene a national policy summit, comprising asylum seekers, refugees and former refugees, migrant and refugee advocates, policy experts, community representatives and politicians from all parties.

Dr Shamier said such a summit would enable the current and future governments to establish policies which complied with international law. 

“In keeping with the letter that I signed, I really believe it’s time the government started employing a wider conversation, and that is by engaging with professionals in the field such as academics who may be studying these areas as well as advocacy groups that work in the area and refugees themselves,” she said.

“That’s why I do fully support a national summit as expressed in the policy paper, where we can have this conversation and come up with effective policies that are not in breach of international law as we’re currently doing.”