For artist Ben Quilty reading the files was a harrowing experience.
"When they[the files] came out I was shocked,and then ashamed,"he says."It's a very,very dark passage in our shared history as Australians,that these people are suffering under our care."
Quilty,who won the 2011 Archibald Prize and travelled to Afghanistan as Official War Artist of the Australian War Memorial,believes art can help promote more understanding about the plight of refugees.
"I've been through most of the refugee camps around Syria,Lebanon,Jordan,"he says."I've watched people that came ashore in Lesbos,Greece. I've followed refugees up through Serbia and on their way to Germany. What I think artists need to do now is try and humanise things,It feels to me like most of our recent governments go out of their way to dehumanise issues.
"The Australian public needs to understand that seeking refugee status means you're fleeing a very real horror and danger. They[the public] have completely lost empathy and compassion."
Another contributing artist,Luke Sciberras,echoes Quilty's call for a fresh emphasis on our shared humanity.
"The fundamental role of art is to make the invisible visible,"says Sciberras. "Before I started to think of the broader contemporary picture,I was touched by the resonance with my families'memories. All four of my grandparents come from refugee and migrant backgrounds. I understand what it is like for people to be hauled up in a refugee camp,my family lived through that as well."