All asylum seeker children on Nauru will be relocated to Australia by the end of the year, former Attorney-General George Brandis says.
Mr Brandis confirmed the federal government's plan during a radio interview in London, where he is serving as high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
"There are hardly any children on Nauru and in New Guinea and we expect that by the end of this year there will be none," he told LBC radio.
The federal government has set an unofficial timeline to have asylum seeker children moved from Nauru to Australia by the end of 2018, The Australian reported on Thursday.
As of Monday, there were 40 children of asylum seekers remaining on the island.
Of the children removed from the Pacific nation over the past few days, 13 have been hospitalised in capital cities across Australia.
Former Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs says it will take time for the children and their families to be healthy.
"These children are, on all the medical evidence, deeply traumatised and damaged," Ms Triggs told ABC radio on Thursday.
"A lot of asylum seeker children in the community in Australia are presenting to medical practitioners with elements of traumatisation and mental illness."
Ms Triggs infuriated the government when she investigated conditions for children in immigration detention in 2014, publishing a 300-page report saying they should not be detained.
A total of 46 infants have been born to asylum seekers since Nauru was reopened for processing in 2012.
In recent years, 244 minors have reportedly been taken to Australia from offshore detention centres.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the government has been "quietly" removing children from the island nation, telling reporters this week the number had halved over the past nine weeks.
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