Nauru files prompt private member’s bill proposal to deal with mandatory reporting of abuse and advocacy for children in offshore detention

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Labor would appear to have a strong prospect of securing Senate support for a proposal to beef up reporting requirements and advocacy on behalf of children in offshore detention.



Since the publication on Wednesday of the Nauru files – a cache of leaked documents revealing the scale of trauma inflicted on children held by Australia in offshore detention – Labor has signalled an intention to bring forward a private member’s bill which would deal with mandatory reporting of abuse .

Given the government commands a slim majority in the House of Representatives, such a proposal would be unlikely to clear the lower house – although this week one Liberal MP, Russell Broadbent, signalled it could be time to review the checks and balances to ensure people were safe in offshore detention.

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Although the lower house looks like a long shot, the Senate is a clearer proposition.

Nick Xenophon, who has a Senate bloc of three, said the idea was positive. He said he would need to discuss it with his parliamentary colleagues but “my personal view is this seems to be a constructive proposal that is worth seriously considering”.

Xenophon’s in-principle support was backed by the former broadcaster turned Victorian senator, Derryn Hinch. “I haven’t seen the ... bill, but I’ll look at this issue sympathetically,” Hinch told Guardian Australia on Thursday.

“The Nauru papers are awful reading, and the government’s track record isn’t good when it comes to shooting the messenger, like those Save the Children whistleblowers.”

The Greens would also support Labor’s legislation, although the relevant spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, thinks additional reporting does not address the problem of governments failing to act on evidence from reputable sources of unconscionable conduct in offshore detention.

With that caveat, a spokeswoman for Hanson-Young said: “Of course we would support it.”

Combined with Labor senators, that level of support, if it eventuated, would equate to a slim majority in the Senate chamber – which would be a mechanism for applying renewed political and parliamentary pressure to the government to at least improve oversight in the detention centres.

It is unclear whether Labor intends to proceed with its proposal in the lower house or the Senate when parliament resumes later this month.

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On Thursday the opposition immigration spokesman, Shayne Neumann, said the proposal would require broad support, and he looked forward to working with the Greens and the crossbench “to ensure its successful passage, in the leadup to the resumption of parliament”.

Neumann said the private member’s bill would amend the Migration Act to make it unequivocal that if an immigration or border protection worker reasonably believed that a minor had suffered or was suffering a reportable assault in detention, the worker must, within 24 hours, alert the Australian Border Force commissioner, and then police and child protection agencies.

On Wednesday, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the government would examine the incident reports published by Guardian Australia to ensure they had been followed up.

But on Thursday, the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, dismissed the material. “Most of that’s been reported on before,” Dutton told 2GB.