Lawyers and asylum seeker advocates say the child abuse royal commission has failed to properly investigate immigration detention.

The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse examined immigration detention, including offshore detention, in a limited fashion on Monday.

It spent several hours hearing from an independent expert who investigated child protection in immigration detention, Margaret Allison, and two senior departmental figures, secretary Michael Pezzullo, and first assistant secretary Cheryl-Anne Moy.

The royal commission has not spoken with survivors or other children, and Monday’s hearing focused largely on the work of the government-commissioned child protection panel, which produced the Making Children Safer report last year.

The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Group said it feared the commission was taking a two-tier approach to child abuse, which denied a voice to asylum seekers.



The group’s statement was supported by eminent child psychiatrist, Michael Dudley, who said it was essential that the rights of all children were recognised, and that they were assured protection and freedom from harm.

“In no way, should immigration institutions be less responsible for child protection than other mandated institutions,” Dudley said.

A spokeswoman for the royal commission said its final report would include a “comprehensive discussion” of its work on immigration detention.

The royal commission has ordered the department and its contractors to produce documents on allegations of child sexual abuse in immigration detention. It has also considered previous reports and inquiries into the protection of children in immigration detention.

“The final report of the royal commission will include a comprehensive discussion of the work that the royal commission has completed in this area,” the spokeswoman said.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance made a submission to the royal commission earlier this month, urging it not to avoid scrutiny of offshore detention due to international borders.

The group said “persuasive legal arguments” supported the royal commission’s ability to investigate offshore detention.



The alliance is also concerned that the commission’s terms of reference are too narrow, and that Monday’s hearing was inadequate.

Its submission warned that the immigration department’s response to child sexual abuse had not gone far enough, and that the environment in offshore detention centres allowed “the risk of [child sexual abuse] to persist at unacceptable levels”.

“This royal commission has presented a comprehensive picture of institutional responses to [child sexual abuse] across Australia,” the alliance’s submission said.

“This picture will not be complete without an investigation of the Commonwealth’s response to [child sexual abuse] in immigration detention facilities,” the submission said.

“In offshore immigration detention, the need for investigation is urgent. Asylum seekers and refugees detained offshore lack access to mechanisms that are available in Australia to protect children from abuse and report any abuse that has occurred.”

Psychiatrist and expert on the impacts of abuse Louise Newman said detention was likely to leave many children with long-term psychological and emotional problems. Newman added her name to the statement issued by the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Group.

“This is devastating for parents and children, and is a shameful situation, equivalent to the abuse of children in other forms of state and organised care. All children are damaged by abuse and all systems are responsible for their protection,” she said.