Take your pick: it sounds like a script from the far right, a totalitarian Soviet regime, North Korea or an ISIS boot camp.

What it does not sound like is an Australia to be proud of.

Regardless of their views on how Australia manages the flow of asylum seekers in the region, many Australians will be nervous about the gag provisions that came into effect on July 1.

The threat of jailing for two years doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, teachers - indeed anyone with a duty of care to those living in Australian detention centres or Australian-sponsored detention centres offshore - is designed to strike fear into the heart of people who may be tempted to follow their consciences and speak out about conditions they find disturbing.

If our government institutions or the private sector groups we contract to do work on our behalf have nothing to hide, why on earth would such a provision be necessary?

Health and education professionals have a moral obligation to put their patients and students first.

Speaking out when they believe a system or institution is placing those people in direct harm of physical, sexual or emotional damage forms an intrinsic part of that moral obligation.

A court may well find in the favour of such a professional, were this draconian provision to be tested.

Such a test would be stressful for all involved, not to mention a costly drain on the public purse and on our court system.

It would also be a very public process, defeating the purpose of the gag order - unless of course the next law enacted borrows another well-worn trick from either end of the political extreme: the secret trial.

However, those who drafted it know full well that it may never need to be put to the test to be effective.

The sword of two years’ jail hanging over the head of a professional may well be gag enough to keep many quiet.

An open letter this week from those with direct experience of working in detention centres shows some at least have no intention of remaining quiet in the face of conditions they find inhumane.

Again, if there is nothing to hide, no-one in authority should have any concerns.