The Turnbull government will pay $70 million compensation to refugees and asylum seekers detained by Australia at Manus Island, after a Victorian court officially approved the settlement on Wednesday.
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Law firm Slater and Gordon said it was believed to be the largest human rights class action settlement in Australian history, brought on behalf of 1923 asylum seekers held on the island between 2012 and 2014.
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Cameron Macaulay declared the $70 million payout "a fair and reasonable sum", which should be distributed urgently given the Manus Island centre is due to close next month.
Slater and Gordon said 1346 of the original claimants had signed on to the settlement, with registrations open until September 25. Less than 10 per cent of the group raised objections to the settlement.
The refugees and asylum seekers involved in the class action claimed they suffered physical and psychological injury as a result of the conditions of their detention in Papua New Guinea.
They also made a claim of false imprisonment, following a PNG Supreme Court ruling last year that declared their ongoing detention breached the PNG constitution.
The Turnbull government agreed on a provisional settlement in June - of $70 million, plus an estimated $20 million in costs - which was formally approved by Justice Macaulay on Wednesday.
In June, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the decision to settle was not an admission of liability or wrongdoing, but was preferable to a lengthy and expensive trial.
"An anticipated six-month legal battle for this case would have cost tens of millions of dollars in legal fees alone, with an unknown outcome," Mr Dutton said at the time.
"In such circumstances a settlement was considered a prudent outcome for Australian taxpayers. The Commonwealth strongly refutes and denies the claims made in these proceedings."
Speaking on Wednesday after the payout was confirmed, Slater and Gordon practice group leader Rory Walsh said he hoped to distribute the $70 million to asylum seekers by October 31.
The firm was aware that refugees and asylum seekers in PNG were likely to "disperse" further after that date, which is when the Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island is due to close.
"We were acutely aware that these people have been treated terribly and in a very high-handed way," Mr Walsh said.
He said the settlement figure had been well-regarded by most of the claimants but "there was always going to be some people who don't agree with the settlement, that's the nature of class action".
- with AAP
