Some teenage asylum seekers at the Pontville detention centre near Hobart have resorted to self harm, the national children's commissioner says.
Commissioner Megan Mitchell interviewed 200 unaccompanied minors aged 13-17 at the centre last month and has raised serious concerns about their mental health.
"They are very depressed and anxious and there are instances of self harm," she told ABC radio on Tuesday.
"It can range from cutting themselves to attempted suicide."
She called on the teenagers to be released into community detention.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young demanded the federal government release the minors.
"These children need to be protected, not locked up," she said.
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