Detention centre staff monitoring asylum seekers at risk of suicide and self harm on Nauru describe the job as 'whiskey watch', a Senate inquiry has heard.
But what the term actually means is a mystery.
Centre operator Transfield Services, immigration department officials and security and welfare staff are appearing before a Senate inquiry into the handling of abuse allegations.
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Bed wetting 'a safer option on Nauru', inquiry hears
The inquiry follows an independent review which uncovered cases of abuse of women and children at the centre, including guards possibly trading drugs for sexual favours.
Transfield's facility and logistics general manager Derek Osborne said the term "whiskey watch" had evolved over time.
"It's used in Nauru and Manus (Island, Papua New Guinea)," he told a hearing of the inquiry in Canberra on Tuesday.
Inquiry chairman Alex Gallacher expressed frustration with Mr Osborne's evidence and that of two other Transfield employees.
The trio opted to take a number of questions on notice about staff training on how to respond to self-harm incidents and emergencies.
It was "extraordinary" they could not even provide basic details such as a gender breakdown of the company's 500-odd staff on the island, Senator Gallacher said.
Mr Osborne maintained the training was comprehensive.
Transfield chief executive of operations Kate Munnings said the company wanted to co-operate fully and provide accurate answers.
"We've come here on relatively short notice and we've come here willingly," she said.
Ms Munnings said staff could contact an independently-run confidential whistleblower hotline to make complaints or report any abuse.
But she could not say how many times the hotline had been used, or who had taken over its operation.
The hearing was told a Wilson Security security staffer had to step down over a social media incident.
Safety fears 'cause bed wetting at Nauru'
A female asylum seeker at the Nauru detention centre told a visiting Sydney paediatrician of the harrowing night she was raped on the way to the bathroom.
In a written submission to a Senate inquiry, Professor David Isaacs said the woman wept uncontrollably for 10 minutes as she detailed the ordeal but had chosen not to report it to police.
"Many children and some mothers had nocturnal enuresis (bed-wetting at night) rather than run the gauntlet of a night-time toilet visit," Prof Isaacs said.
We're doing right thing about Nauru: PM
Tony Abbott insists Australia is doing everything it can to ensure basic human decency is applied at offshore asylum-seeker processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
When there were reports that "untoward things" had happened in Nauru an independent review was conducted and all its recommendations were accepted, Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
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