Amnesty International has used Tony Abbott's goodies-baddies reference to warring sides in the Syrian conflict to call on the prime minister to end Australia's treatment of asylum seekers.
Australia has the capacity to resettle 7500 Syrian refugees in addition to its humanitarian quota and can do much better than the 500 places offered so far, the human rights group said.
"Although the government has acknowledged the gravity of the conflict in Syria and co-authored the UN resolution to increase humanitarian aid, it has been unwilling to step up," its Australian national director Claire Mallinson said.
The Australian-run Manus Island and Nauru immigration detention camps were cited in the group's Humanity in Review report released on Tuesday.
Asylum seekers are being denied adequate water, shoes, soap, phone time and shade from the sun in cramped and crowded conditions, it said.
Ms Mallinson said asylum seekers were being pushed to breaking point.
Amnesty looked to Mr Abbott to be "a goodie not a baddie".
Ms Mallinson seized on the death of an asylum seeker at the Manus Island detention centre and called for a speedy investigation.
"The recent tragic event and violence at the centre was shocking, but unfortunately, not surprising," she said.
The report also urged the government to curb high rates of indigenous incarceration.
