The maltreatment of asylum seekers on the remote Pacific island of Nauru has been condemned by the Anglican Primate of Australia as "shocking and saddening".

Reports detailing the abuse of children and adults on the island, where Australia keeps refugees and asylum seekers who attempted to travel to the mainland, were published by The Guardian newspaper yesterday.

The Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, launched a stinging attack on government policy, saying the reports "paint a picture of successive Australian governments abandoning vital moral principles and treating refugees with callous cruelty to send a message of deterrence. It is always wrong to use people as a means to another end.

"Yet the Government has done this under stringent secrecy, because it knows that most Australians would repudiate such appalling maltreatment."

He offered the Church's help, saying: "The Anglican Church of Australia, which already has several programs helping refugees, has indicated before that it stands ready to help in any way it can. I repeat this offer today.

"We have also repeatedly asked the government to end the cruel detention, especially of children, in these centres. It must act now in a morally responsible manner and move the asylum-seekers onshore."

The Guardian's revelations, which contain graphic reports of sexual assault, child abuse and self-harm, were dismissed by Australia's immigration minister Peter Dutton, who accused people of setting themselves on fire in order to get to Australia. He said: "I won't tolerate any sexual abuse whatsoever. But I have been made aware of some incidents that have been reported, false allegations of sexual assault, because in the end people have paid money to people smugglers and they want to come to our country.

"Some people have even gone to the extent of self-harming and people have self-immolated in an effort to get to Australia, and certainly some have made false allegations in an attempt to get to Australia."