Pressure is mounting on Malcolm Turnbull to end detention of refugees on Nauru and Manus Island, ahead of two summits at which world leaders will discuss the global crisis.

Save the Children released the results of a poll on Wednesday that show that two-thirds (66%) of Australians believe the prime minister should act urgently to resettle refugees held in offshore detention by the end of the year.

Three-quarters (75%) said Turnbull and Bill Shorten, the leader of the opposition, should work together to find a solution.

In the poll 77% of respondents, including 75% of Liberal party voters, said Turnbull should accept New Zealand’s offer to resettle refugees, which he rejected in late April.

The poll of 1,010 voters nationwide was conducted by Galaxy Research on 6 and 7 September. Data from the survey was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest population estimates.

Turnbull is under increasing pressure to end the stalemate over offshore detention amid criticism over the policy from within Australia and overseas.

Analysis by Save The Children with Unicef, released separately on Tuesday, found that offshore processing cost taxpayers at least $3.6bn between 2013 and 2016. The total cost of Australia’s policies was put in excess of $9.6bn.

Tim Norton, head of campaigns at Save the Children, said Australia had to play its part in addressing the world’s refugee crisis.



“The most urgent matter facing the government in this space is the fate of refugees and asylum seekers stuck in limbo on Nauru and Manus Island,” he said. “The government continues to justify its treatment of these refugees by declaring they have the support of the Australian people. But these results show that just isn’t true and Australians are demanding a better way.”

Norton said two summits on the global refugee crisis that Turnbull will attend in New York later this month presented an opportunity for him to announce a way forward on the world stage.

The prime minister will attend the United Nations general assembly’s summit on the movements of refugees and migrants on 19 September, billed by the UN as “an historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response”.

Turnbull will also be present at the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees hosted by Barack Obama the following day, at which the US president will urge nations to increase refugee intake and humanitarian funding.

The prime minister has come under sustained criticism for Australia’s detention facilities following the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files, more than 2,000 leaked incident reports that laid bare the devastating abuse and trauma inflicted on children held there.

Protests were held across Australia after their publication last month, with ongoing action planned. Love Makes a Way, a Christian advocacy group, is holding public readings of the Nauru files this week.

On Monday it was confirmed that Australia’s parliament would launch an investigation into allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru.

