Manus Island detainees' $70m compensation settlement approved
Updated 53 minutes agoWed 6 Sep 2017, 1:00pm
Photo: The group was compensated for the time they spent on Manus between 2012 and 2016. (Digital Globe)
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Map: Melbourne 3000
A compensation deal from the Australian Government worth $70 million for 1,300 current and former detainees on Manus Island has been approved by Victoria's Supreme Court.
The group of asylum seekers and refugees were compensated for being illegally detained between 2012 and 2016, and for negligence in how the Government housed and protected them.
The deal is the largest human rights settlement in Australian legal history.
The agreement was reached out of court in June just as a trial against the Commonwealth and security companies Transfield and G4S was due to start.
The group alleged the Commonwealth breached its duty of care by holding them in conditions that did not meet Australian standards.
During the period of their incarceration there was also a riot that resulted in the death of an asylum seeker and serious injuries to other detainees.
They also said they were falsely imprisoned after Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled their detention was illegal.
Of the 1,923 detainees who were eligible for compensation, 1,383 have registered to be part of it.
Some of those who have not registered are yet to be contacted or are still in negotiations to join, but 56 have opted out.
Justice Cameron Macauley said the compensation would allow lawyers to allocate money to reflect each applicant's personal circumstances.
"I am comfortably satisfied that the amount of $70 million amongst participants is a fair and reasonable sum," Justice Macauley said.
"This is reached with a strong degree of conviction."
Dave R.
