Immigration officials have confirmed 14 unaccompanied children were on board the latest asylum seeker boat to arrive on Christmas Island.
The boat carrying 72 asylum seekers was intercepted by Australian authorities on Friday and is the first since the Federal Government's people swap deal with Malaysia was scuttled by the High Court.
The Immigration Department has confirmed there are 54 single men in the group, one woman and 14 asylum seekers claiming to be unaccompanied minors.
The asylum seekers will have health and security checks on Christmas Island and they will be processed in Australia.
Federal Cabinet and caucus will meet on Monday to settle on a new policy after the High Court rejected the Malaysia swap deal.
Yesterday Attorney-General Robert McClelland told ABC's News 24 the Migration Act could be amended to allow offshore processing.
"We believe an amendment is appropriate. Obviously the Cabinet and caucus have to consider these issues but yes we believe that an amendment is desirable to put offshore processing beyond doubt, we think that should be done," he said.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith has rejected suggestions the Government's decision to overhaul asylum seeker laws means it does not care about how asylum seekers are treated.
"We went to the last election with a commitment to effect offshore processing together with a regional framework, a regional arrangement but its clear that to pursue that there needs to be legislative change," he told ABC1's Insiders.
The Government has signalled Nauru is unlikely to be part of its new asylum seeker policy.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has released financial estimates that revealed it would cost just under $1 billion to process asylum seekers on Nauru over the next four years.
"So we know that Nauru is an ineffective option, now we know it's an expensive one as well," he said.
Mr Bowen stopped short of ruling out Nauru completely, but said the new advice proved it was no silver bullet for people smuggling.
However, Mr Bowen said he is still negotiating with the Opposition in the hopes of reaching a bipartisan position.(abc.net.au)
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