Ex-Villawood detainee compensated over sexual assaults

A man who was physically and sexually assaulted while being held in immigration detention has successfully challenged a ruling limiting the level of his compensation.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was assaulted by three men at Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on November 16, 2017, according to court documents.

He was initially awarded compensation of $1500, after the department of victims services deemed the assaults to be one joint incident and not to have included elements of sexual assault.

On Tuesday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal overturned the initial findings and awarded the man $15,000 in compensation.

The Commissioner of Victims Rights had initially ruled the man was not eligible for compensation as a victim of a sexual assault, based on inconsistencies between his initial and later accounts of the attacks.

The first reference to sexual violence did not come until after the man had made his first application for victim support.

The tribunal found while the man initially did not report the sexual elements of the attacks, his reasons for doing so included fear of reprisals while he was still detained, as well as embarrassment.

The tribunal accepted he had been attacked by three men, including one person nicknamed "Big Fella", and he had suffered physical and psychological injuries as a result.

None of the men have been charged over the incidents and only one has been identified.

The matter was initially referred to the Australian Federal Police but was rejected in March 2018 on the basis of being low priority and the availability of resources, according to court documents.

The tribunal found the incident involving Big Fella occurred previous to the others and in a different location - being in the man's room - and therefore should be considered a separate incident of physical and sexual assault for purposes of compensation.

"In my view the first assault involving the perpetrator 'Big Fella' is a discrete matter," senior tribunal member John McAteer stated in Tuesday's decision.

"It involved both sexual touching and a sexual assault as well as at least one instance of a physical assault."

Soon after that incident, the man was assaulted by two other detainees the first of which he says punched him when he refused to have sex. The other allegedly stomped on his fist and kicked him while on the ground, before pulling his pants down.

"He pulled down my pants and beat on to my buttock and said, 'This c*** got a sexy ass'," the man said.

"I felt embarrassed and I heard them laughing and felt like a man with no manliness."

Mr McAteer ruled those incidents should be considered related.

"In my view these incidents are related in that they both deal with attempts by the perpetrators to sexually assault or engage in sexual touching or a sexual act in the context of physical assaults," he said.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028