Security firm denies Nauru sex tape claims

A security firm has denied allegations its guards at the Nauru immigration detention centre paid female refugees for sex and circulated videos of the encounters.

Transfield Services Executive Manager, Logistics and Facilities Management Derek Osborne and Chief Executive Operations Kate Munnings during the Senate inquiry (File: AAP)

Transfield Services Executive Manager, Logistics and Facilities Management Derek Osborne and Chief Executive Operations Kate Munnings during the Senate inquiry (File: AAP) Source: AAP

A security firm has denied allegations its guards at the Nauru immigration detention centre paid female refugees for sex and circulated videos of the encounters.

Wilson Security executive manager John Rogers told a Senate inquiry on Monday he had found no file notes or incident reports about the alleged sex videos and soliciting claims.

A former Save the Children case worker made the explosive allegations in a written submission to the inquiry last month.

During Monday's hearing into allegations of sexual abuse on Nauru, Wilson Security confirmed a locally-employed female guard had been sacked for having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old asylum seeker.

The relationship was deemed consensual by police after an investigation. An Australian security guard was also fired for smacking a misbehaving asylum seeker child on the bottom, the company said.

Mr Rogers maintained those incidents were isolated and the company had a strong code of conduct in place.

In previous evidence provided to the inquiry, Transfield Services - who are contracted to run the detention facility - said they had received 67 allegations of child abuse, 30 of which were against staff.

The company received 33 asylum seeker claims of rape or sexual assault.

On Monday, the immigration department revealed they had been notified of 15 alleged sexual assaults against children and 19 against adults.

One child who was sexually assaulted by a staff member in November 2013 remained in the detention centre, where the family was allegedly subjected to bullying and harassment by other employees.

Australian Border Force Support deputy commissioner Cindy Briscoe said the child remained in the facility at the request of the family.

"There was welfare provided for the family and the child," she said. "It is my understanding that the mother decided not to progress that complaint any further."

Immigration department secretary Michael Pezzullo said reports of bullying and harassment were not "necessarily accepted" by any of the agencies or authorities before the inquiry.

But Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said none had refuted the assertion. In submitted evidence, the department revealed it had spent $388 million on operations at the centre from July 2014 to April 2015.

Labor senator Alex Gallacher tried on Monday to confirm that equated to "an extraordinary expenditure" of around $630,000 per asylum seeker over 10 months.

Mr Pezzullo said he hadn't done the calculations, but could only assume the numbers were correct.

"Is it lawful and ethical and value for money expenditure? Unless I get presented with evidence to the contrary then the answer is yes," Mr Pezzullo said.

The department says the Nauru government was ultimately responsible for the personal security of detainees.

The inquiry was told Transfield Services had developed a human rights policy, which had been in place for one week.

The company denied the policy was connected to a bid for the contract to run detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island.

Transfield's $1.2 billion contract expires in October and the new tender process has greater emphasis on human rights.

The contractor and Wilson Security both apologised to Senator Hanson-Young for spying on her during her visit to the island in 2013.

The employee who instructed guards to watch the senator lost their job and was subject to disciplinary action, the inquiry was told.


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world