Around 100 asylum seekers at the Curtin Immigration Detention Centre in Western Australia's Kimberley region have staged a peaceful protest.
The protest started around 10am (WST) on Thursday and only lasted a couple of hours in a common area of the centre, an Immigration Department spokeswoman said. She could not say what the protest at the facility housing 1169 detainees was about.
The protest follows two disturbances in recent days at the Christmas Island detention centre where federal police used tear gas and "beanbag bullets" against rioting asylum seekers.
Detainees there are angry at delays in processing their asylum claims and on Wednesday night threw rocks at Australian Federal Police officers, who responded with gas.
In the first disturbance early on Monday, in which beanbag bullets were used, one detainee suffered a suspected broken leg and fences and doors were damaged.
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Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has ordered an independent inquiry into the Christmas Island unrest and how it has been handled.
