Indonesia's Child Protection Commissioner has accused Australia of human rights abuses. Commissioner Apong Herlina is also publicly backing claims for compensation from Australia by teenagers who were jailed for working on asylum seeker boats.

Almost 50 boys have been returned to Indonesia and 23 of them are preparing to sue the Australian Government. Their lawyers say they were locked up in adult prisons despite telling Australian authorities they were underage.

Presenter: George Roberts, Indonesia Correspondent

Speakers: Lisa Hiarej, lawyer; Apong Herlina, Indonesia's Child Protection Commissioner

George Roberts: Outside Indonesia's Child Protection Commission, one of boys' lawyers, Lisa Hiarej, is happy about the boost in support.

Lisa Hiarej (translation): When they heard that I was the lawyer for the 23 children, they called me and asked me what they could do, and I told them all about it and they got together to support me.

They invited the National Commission of Human Rights. They also called a committee of the parliament, and we sat together and they said they are going to support them.

George Roberts: Indonesia's Child Protection Commissioner Apong Herlina has slammed Australia for locking up Indonesian teenagers in adult prisons.

Apong Herlina (translation): I think Australia is famous for respecting human rights, so we were taken by surprise when these human rights violations occurred – especially against children.

And I think it's very embarrassing for the Australian Government that they committed this kind of human rights violation.

George Roberts: Two of the boys who've been returned to Indonesia say they were sexually taunted in Sydney's Silverwater prison and were scared by violence and drug use by the other inmates.

Lisa Hiarej says they tried to explain they're not adults, but at the time the Government was using wrist x-rays to claim the teenagers were grown men.

Lisa Hiarej (translation): They shouldn't have just used the x-rays. They could have used other methods, like birth certificates, school records, or baptism certificates for the Christians – and for the Muslims, a letter from the head of the village.

George Roberts: In Indonesia, where half the population lives on $2 or less per day, the lure of a paying job on a boat can turn out as too good to be true. Crew members often claim they not told their cargo would be asylum seekers and their destination Australia.

Commissioner Apong Herlina says the Australian Government's breached its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, by imprisoning the underage deckhands. She says there should be an apology and compensation.

Apong Herlina (translation): Compensation doesn't necessarily mean cash or money but we would like for it to be more in the form of empowerment of these children, upgrading their quality of life, such as putting them through schools, or giving them some kind of capital.

Because these kids are from poor backgrounds and it's very hard for them to gather capital for them to be able to survive.

George Roberts: Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus wasn't available for comment. But in a statement, a spokesman for the Department said:

"The Government has not received any formal notification of this claim. Where it is considered that such claims do not have merit, the Australian Government will defend them."

Lawyers for the boys in Australia and Indonesia have spent 10 months already preparing their cases and expect to lodge the claims in the coming months.