Australia has announced an inquiry into the reports of child abuse and sexual misconduct by staff in the country's offshore detention facility in Nauru, reported The Guardian on Saturday.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the inquiry will also look at allegations of NGO workers helping children to protest against Australia's immigration policy, including coaching in making complaints and in self-harm.

The minister confirmed that 10 employees of the charity Save the Children had been told to leave Nauru.

“The matters that have been brought to my attention are concerning, certainly the allegations of sexual misconduct are abhorrent and I would be horrified to think that things of that nature have taken place,” Morrison said, adding that reports that charity workers were assisting protests and encouraging detainees to hurt themselves in an effort to undermine the policy of offshore detention “were also very serious”.

Former integrity commissioner and acting department head Philip Moss will head the wide-ranging inquiry investigating “all of these matters”, and will look into “the orchestration of protest activity and the facilitation of that protest activity on Nauru, including the tactical use of children in those protests, to frustrate the ability of those working in the centre,” the minister said.

Save the Children rejected the allegations.

Chief executive of the NGO, Paul Ronalds, told a media conference on Friday the government did not provide any evidence before making the allegations public.

“We reject in the strongest possible terms these allegations that our staff have in any way fabricated stories of abuse or in any way encouraged self-harm,” Ronalds said.

“The truth is that cases of child self-harm are a reality, and have been well-documented. Our staff have responded to these very distressing incidents with professionalism and compassion.”