Child asylum seekers on Nauru are frequently bullied or threatened with rape and murder, humanitarian employees who worked in the island's detention centre have told the Human Rights Commission.
The children live in hot, cramped, unhygienic conditions and even the most resilient eventually become depressed.
The Save the Children employees made an anonymous submission to the commission's inquiry into children in detention, saying confidentiality clauses imposed by the immigration department prevent them giving their names.
"We believe that the children have been subjected to multiple violations of their human rights and wrongdoing from multiple parties," the submission states.
It says children in the detention centre suffer from extreme heat, cramped and noisy living spaces, outbreaks of lice and gastroenteritis, the risk of wild dog bites, unsafe accommodation, and delays for medical treatment.
They're regularly referred to by "boat numbers" instead of names.
"They have also been the victims of abuse, assault, bullying and threats of violence by both staff and community members."
The submission claims a school bus driver tried to hit kids with a cricket bat when they wouldn't stop singing and chanting.
It details the cases of several children who have been threatened with death or sexual assault.
It also says there is no greenery or grass so the children play on rocks and dirt which, combined with ill-fitting clothes and thongs, often ends in injury.
Some 750 people share showers, cleaning staff are unreliable and several times the toilet block in the area where families live has run out of water.
Planned activities such as school, scheduled phone time or trips to the gym or access to the internet are frequently cancelled, which the employees say drives frustration, disappointment and a constant feeling of instability.
Even the most resilient of children and families lose motivation to participate in activities or engage with humanitarian staff because they think nothing can change their condition.
"Some children have engaged in self-harming behaviours or have become increasingly preoccupied with thoughts of wanting to self-harm," the staffers say.
Save the Children Australia has made its own submission to the inquiry and gave evidence at a public hearing in April.
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