The Department of Home Affairs has come under fire for awarding an eye-watering $422 million contract to a US-based company to manage asylum seekers on Nauru.
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The contract which went live yesterday allows for private prison company Management and Training Corporation to run Nauru's offshore detention centre until September 2025.
But human rights groups have concerns about the US parent company's record amid investigations for unlawful use of solitary confinement, negligence and excessive force.
MTC runs five immigration detention centres for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In Australia, MTC manages the Parklea Correctional Centre in Sydney, but prison officers have been on strike citing unsafe working conditions and poor pay.
According to NSW Custodial Services, there were 183 reported incidents of self-harm in the 12 months between April 2020 and March 2021 at Parklea.
There are roughly between 60 and 67 asylum seekers being held on Nauru.
MTC has been operating in Nauru since August 2022 on short-term contracts awarded through a limited tender with the Australian government.
The most recent contract was extended to September 2025 for an additional $350 million.
Senate estimates revealed that MTC was operating in Nauru based on a letter of intent while negotiations were ongoing.
The contract has raised the hackles of the Greens which has referred the matter to the Australian National Audit Office to investigate.
Greens immigration spokesman senator Nick McKim said there was a "very strong" case for the Auditor-General to investigate, given the serious allegations against the parent company.
Senator McKim also accused the Department of Home Affairs of holding an "abject record" around transparency, probity and good governance.
"We are very concerned that some of the behaviours that have been alleged in the US will be perpetrated on innocent people on Nauru," he said.
"Instead of handing over an obscene amount of money to a US private prison contractor facing serious allegations of human rights abuse and fraud, we should be offering immediate resettlement in Australia to everyone still stranded on Nauru and in Papua New Guinea."
Similar concerns have been echoed by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre with refugees on both Nauru and in Papua New Guinea being in need of urgent medical evacuation.
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Asylum Seeker Resource Centre campaigns director Jana Favero said there had been 14 deaths since 2013 and a series child sexual abuse, medical negligence and high levels of self-harm.
"This system is a moral and financial black hole. Keeping someone in these conditions for one day would be a national shame," Ms Favero said.
"Yet the government has chosen to burn through billions of dollars to keep thousands of people who came to Australia to seek safety in these conditions."
Former Manus detainee and human rights activist Thanush Selvarasa said the 2025 contract was "updating the pain".
"They don't realise the pain they are causing. They are playing with human suffering," he said.
"They are separating families. We have loved ones and family. Enough is enough, it is ten years, we need permanency we need to see our family."
MTC Australia was contacted for comment, but was referred to the Department of Home Affairs which did not respond by deadline.
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