The immigration department has denied it imposed an arbitrary "abortion deadline" on a Somali woman who says she fell pregnant after being raped on Nauru.
A senior departmental official made the call to charter a plane to send Abyan, 23, back to Nauru last Friday after she had spent only five days in Australia. Neil Skill claimed she had declined two medical appointments to discuss the termination.
"There was no reason for that person to stay in Australia," he told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Monday. Department secretary Michael Pezzullo defended the speed of the decision, saying it was reasonable based on facts.
"I don't think Mr Skill has an abortion deadline and nor does the department," he said.
The flight had been arranged because there was a risk of "non-compliance and disrupting" a commercial airline.
Senators were told Abyan was flown to Australia on a commercial flight on October 11.
Mr Skill admitted he had no expertise in dealing with sexual assault victims, he had not seen the woman's medical files and no-one from the department had spoken to her directly before she had been sent back to Nauru.
The decision was based on discussions with qualified health workers who had assessed her but he admitted it was not their recommendation that she be flown out of Australia immediately.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young pointed out it had taken the department six weeks to send the woman to Australia for an abortion.
She repeatedly asked Mr Skill to justify the decision to hastily return her to Nauru. Asked why the rush, he said: "That's the pace we operate".
Mr Skill said the latest information he had from the island suggested Abyan was "talking about her future on Nauru" and was positively engaging with health workers.
Earlier, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton insisted the woman received proper medical attention in Australia.
He also took a swipe at refugee advocates and lawyers, accusing them of fabricating stories about her treatment.
Abyan claims she never said she didn't want a termination. In a statement to her lawyer and published by Fairfax Media, she said: "I never saw a doctor.
I saw a nurse at a clinic but there was no counselling. I (also) saw a nurse at Villawood but there was no interpreter. I asked but was not allowed to talk with my lawyer."
Mr Dutton said the woman was seen by nurses, GPs and mental health assessors and mostly with interpreters.
"There are alleged facts that are being put forward by some of the advocates which are patently incorrect, if not fabricated," he said.
"I'm not going to allow women in this situation to be treated as political pawns, which they have been."
Up to 200 people rallied in Sydney on Monday in support of Abyan, calling on the government to bring her back to Australia.
