There are reports today that the Federal Government has transferred a five-month-old baby born in Australia to an offshore immigration detention in Nauru.

If they are accurate, it would be the first time such a transfer has happened since the Government amended the Migration Act last year.

The amendments were made to appease crossbenchers by allowing some babies born in Australia to stay, but babies born since the deal was struck in December would be taken to Nauru.

Greens immigration spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young says the baby girl and her parents were taken from Melbourne to Nauru a week ago.

The family had been brought to Australia for the woman to give birth in better facilities than those on the island, which lacks a specialist obstetrician.

Senator Hanson-Young said the move could be traumatic for all involved, and that it was not the last time it would happen.

“While there were dozens of children, in fact almost 100 children, who were born in Australia who were given reprieve, this child, simply because it was born a few weeks too late, has now been sent off to Nauru,” she said.

The Federal Government says it will put out contracts for upgraded hospital services on Nauru, so that future births can happen in the confines of the detention centre.