In the six months to March this year the Department of Immigration and Border Protection asked the AFP to investigate six alleged cases of "unauthorised disclosure of Commonwealth information" from the Nauru centre. Four were investigated but there was insufficient evidence to make any prosecutions. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Andrew Meares It is believed one referral related to a submission by Save the Children workers to a Human Rights Commission inquiry into children in detention. Legal experts claimed such use of anti-whistleblower laws was draconian and designed to intimidate others into silence. Figures supplied to Fairfax Media show the department was by far the heaviest user of anti-whistleblower laws – specifically, section 70 of the Crimes Act.

In the period the department made six Nauru referrals, just three other referrals were made relating to Commonwealth operations. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young referred the office of former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison over the alleged release of Nauru information to a journalist. Credit:Andrew Meares One was by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who referred the office of former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison over the alleged release of Nauru information to a journalist. A department spokesman said it did not identify specific offenders when asking the AFP to investigate unauthorised disclosures.

Nazanin, an Iranian asylum seeker who was allegedly raped on Nauru in May. While such disclosures should, in some circumstances, be referred to the AFP, "sexual assault in Nauru is a matter for the Nauruan Police Force", he said, adding the government was committed to helping provide safe conditions for detainees and refugees. A Senate inquiry into the Nauru centre in August found local police, which are reportedly under-resourced, had laid charges in just five out of 50 cases referred to them. It said the department and the AFP should fully audit all criminal conduct allegations from the Nauru facility. Senator Hanson Young said "there is a witch hunt on at the Nauru detention camp and, instead of going after the people committing sexual assault and abuse, the government is chasing whistleblowers".

"It is concerning that child abuse investigations are palmed off to the incompetent Nauru authorities, but talking about child abuse is taken more seriously," she said. Nauru police reject claims they are under-resourced and not qualified to conduct investigations. An anonymous submission to the Nauru Senate inquiry alleged Wilson Security, the detention centre subcontractor that has been the subject of several damaging leaks, was investigating the identity of whistleblowers with a view to terminating their employment. The company denied the claims, saying it supports the need for whistleblower protection. The UN this month postponed a planned visit to Australia because the government cannot guarantee legal protection for detention centre workers who discuss conditions faced by asylum seekers.

The United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau, said the Border Force Act, which makes it a crime for immigration and border protection workers to disclose information about offshore detention centres and threatens them with imprisonment, "serves to discourage people from fully disclosing information relevant to my mandate". Follow us on Twitter