Former Christmas Island detention centre detainees who were deported to New Zealand after a large riot at the facility could be brought back to Australia to face criminal action over the incident.

Following last November's riot, which caused $10 million in damage, several New Zealand detainees accused by authorities of being responsible for it were deported.

But the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has now confirmed it has contacted some of the former Christmas Island detainees and has sought assistance from its New Zealand counterparts.

"Requests for assistance from partner law enforcement agencies are common practice for matters such as this," an AFP spokesperson said.

One former detainee who has been contacted by authorities told Radio New Zealand he was fearful of what would happen.

"To me it looks like they want to, well they think we're involved in the riots there, and they're trying to get us and send us back to Australia to possibly do some [jail] time," he said.

At the time of the riot, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton vowed to punish those responsible for the incident and called them "some of the country's worst criminals".

Many of the people held on Christmas Island at the time were people who had their visas revoked after serving time in prison for serious offences.