Australia’s Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee has completed its inquiry into how the government manages offshore processing and resettlement with Nauru and Papua New Guinea, covering arrangements in places since 2022.
The Senate first called for this inquiry back in November 2025, asking the Committee to dig into where taxpayer money has gone, specifically, payments to contractors, subcontractors and other third parties, and whether those contracts have been run with proper integrity, transparency and value for money.
Off the back of its findings, the Committee put forward four key recommendations. It wants to see the Department of Home Affairs keep tightening its integrity and due diligence processes and consider being more open with the public about contracting details where it can. It’s also asking the Auditor-General to look into carrying out regular, independent audits of these arrangements going forward. Finally, it’s calling on the Government to act on a recommendation first raised in the 2023 Richardson Review specifically, setting up a proper protocol for lawfully sharing law enforcement and intelligence information as part of these deals.
The Australian Greens issued a dissenting report pushing for something far stronger – a complete end to offshore processing and third-country resettlement arrangements with both Nauru and PNG.
For full report click: Parliament of Australia – Offshore processing and resettlement arrangements
