The federal government's top legal adviser has told Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs she cannot visit Nauru and Manus Island to assess and act on complaints from asylum seekers about conditions on the islands.
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This is despite the centres being set up with Australian money and at Australia's behest.
Legal advice from the Solicitor-General, sent to Professor Triggs' office late last week, argued she did not have the jurisdictional power on Manus Island and Nauru to hear the complaints of people kept in offshore processing centres.
She could still hear and consider complaints from Australia but would be unable to verify conditions firsthand.
''The power to inquire into these complaints may only be exercised in Australia, that is by actions taken by the [Human Rights Commission] president in Australia,'' she said in a statement.
Late on Monday, Professor Triggs' office said it was still seeking further information about the implications of the legal advice.
Asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island have sent complaints about their treatment to Professor Triggs' office.
An Immigration Department spokesman said the Attorney-General's department had contacted the Solicitor-General's office to seek legal advice about the matter and it was considering that advice.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney-General said that the government had not given any direction to Professor Triggs but said she had made a decision based on legal advice.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has released scathing reports about the conditions on both island processing centres, describing them as troubling.
Professor Triggs, who first announced her intention to visit Nauru in October, was told she would have to get legal advice about whether she had jurisdiction to hear the complaints at Nauru's processing centre.
But the initial legal advice given to Professor Triggs' office states she has jurisdiction only over people on Australian soil, including asylum seekers kept in mainland detention centres and on Christmas Island, an Australian territory.
Human rights lawyer David Manne said: ''A government confident that transfer arrangements were guarding people from further abuse of their human rights would welcome, not seek to stymie, such scrutiny.''
Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman and refugee law barrister Greg Barnes said the advice raised questions about Australia's accountability to asylum seeker conventions. He also questioned the veracity of the legal advice.
