Selected asylum seekers on Nauru will soon be given the right to come and go from the fenced detention centre during agreed hours on designated days, as they wait to have their refugee claims processed on the small Pacific Island.
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Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the "open centre" model would be finalised "very soon" during his first visit to Nauru on Thursday.
"An open centre will give transferees more opportunities to engage with the Nauruan community before their refugee processing has been completed, allowing genuine refugees to ultimately integrate seamlessly into the community," Mr Dutton said.
It comes as four Sri Lankan asylum seekers were intercepted on the high seas and handed over to Sri Lankan authorities by Border Protection Command officers on Monday February 9. Each asylum seeker was interviewed by trained protection officers, Mr Dutton said in a statement on Thursday.
On Nauru, 512 asylum seekers are now living in the community after being found to be genuine refugees since May last year, Mr Dutton said. Each refugee has been given a five-year visa to live on the island.
Selected asylum seekers still being held in the centre will leave through a "designated exit point" and will be unescorted, a spokeswoman for Mr Dutton confirmed.
The detention centre on Nauru has been significantly criticised for its inadequate and unhygienic facilities. Earlier this month a medical team described the "appalling" conditions at the centre, saying there are not enough sanitary pads for women menstruating and children and women are forced to shower behind a flimsy curtain that often flies open in front of male guards.
Dr David Isaacs, a Sydney-based paediatrician, told Fairfax Media he was shocked at the conditions the 895 asylum seekers, including 116 children, lived in when he worked at the centre in December.
"Almost every child had behavioural problems relating to trauma and stress," he said.
Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young called the Mr Dutton's visit to Nauru an "unconvincing PR visit".
"When I was on Nauru, I spent days meeting with the children and families who are locked up in that hellhole and it was a shocking experience. The pervasive culture of neglect and abuse hangs heavy over the camp," she said.
Only last month Australian and Cambodian delegations met to try and encourage refugees to resettle in Cambodia. Not one asylum seeker has been resettled in the country.
