An independent expert panel contracted by the Federal government to examine allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation in immigration detention failed to interview any victims, a royal commission has heard.

The three member Child Protection Panel was convened in 2015 in the wake of two inquiries which raised serious allegations about abuse in detention in Australia and offshore.

Panellist Margaret Allisontold the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse none of the members had recent experience in interviewing children.

"We didn't talk to any children, except incidentally, as we walked through detention centres," said the former senior bureaucrat in Queensland's child protection department.