The Turnbull government has quietly abandoned strict secrecy provisions governing Australia's immigration detention system, in a major victory for refugee advocates who challenged the laws in the High Court.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has put forward amendments to the 2015 Australian Border Force Act that will effectively strip out rules that threatened detention centre workers – including teachers, lawyers and social workers – with two years in prison if they spoke out about neglect or abuse.

The government has long argued the Act did not prevent people disclosing information that was in the public interest, and Mr Dutton says his amendments merely aim to "clarify" the reach of the controversial provisions.

But Barri Phatarford from Doctors for Refugees – which helped bring a High Court challenge against the laws that originally also covered doctors and nurses – said the government had completely capitulated.