Forgotten Children report: Triggs defiant in wake of government 'bullying'

Human rights watchdog head Gillian Triggs has dismissed calls for her scalp as the government pursues her over her report on children in detention.

Gillian Triggs

Human rights watchdog head Gillian Triggs (AAP)

Gillian Triggs remains safe in her job as head of the human rights watchdog despite calls for her scalp over the children in detention report.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has accused the Australian Human Rights Commission of blatant political bias with the report, and says the organisation should be ashamed of itself.

Government backbenchers on Friday called for her to stand down, describing her position as untenable.

"I have more confidence in getting impartial advice from Green Left Weekly than from Gillian Triggs," George Christensen told News Corp Australia.

But the commission president - who rejects all claims of bias - is 2.5 years into a five-year statutory term that is legally protected to prevent political interference.

After a 10-month inquiry, which covered both the Labor and coalition governments, the commission concluded detaining child asylum-seekers violated international human rights law and caused them significant mental and physical harm.

Mr Abbott said the commission was missing in action when numbers of child asylum seekers in detention peaked under the previous Labor government.

But Professor Triggs says the government was ignoring dozens of her reports to parliament on the issue in 2012 and 2013.

"We had no idea they would resort to these extraordinary vitriolic attacks," she told AAP.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne characterised the treatment of Professor Triggs as bullying.

"This is a witch-hunt," Senator Milne told reporters in Canberra.


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Source: AAP


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