Transfield to run detention centres on Nauru, Manus Island for five more years

Transfield Services is expected to continue managing detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island for five more years after being selected as the preferred tenderer for a new contract by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

Transfield said on Monday that it had been notified by the department that it was the preferred tenderer to provide welfare and security services on the islands after its existing contract expires on October 31.

“Subject to completion of a contract, the company will be responsible for providing these services for a further five years,” Transfield said.

The renewal of the contract will heighten focus on Transfield's management of the detention centres after several pension funds sold out of the stock following allegations of alleged human rights abuses.

Transfield has acknowledged in submissions to a Senate inquiry into alleged abuses at Nauru that there have been “a number of allegations and complaints of sexual and physical assault” made by detainees, including against staff members, but claims it has acted “swiftly and appropriately” on complaints and allegations of assault.

However, human rights groups have criticised Transfield, which has some 1,800 staff working on the islands, for accepting the contracts with the Department of Immigration.

A Senate selection committee has been examining the allegations and is expected to report on Monday.

Transfield, which is estimated to have earned more than $200 million (US$142 million) in income from the contracts in 2014-2015, has flagged the possibility of taking investors to Nauru and Manus to show them how it is managing the centres.