Proposals to cut the time in which asylum seekers' refugee claims would be assessed, could lead to genuine refugees being sent home to face persecution or torture, says Parliamentary Committee into Human Rights according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The changes proposed by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison would re-introduce temporary protection visas to be applied to about 30,000 asylum seekers still living in Australia. It would mean asylum seekers found to be refugees would get a three-year visa allowing them to work, but they would ultimately have to return to their country of origin.

The committee also criticised the plan to expand powers to detain people at sea, saying it would have prevented the recent High Court case on behalf of 157 asylum seekers who were held on the high seas on the Australian customs ship the Ocean Protector for a month earlier this year. The asylum seekers were subsequently moved into detention on Nauru. The High Court is still considering the case.

The committee says these changes to the Migration Act are incompatible with Australia's human rights obligations

According to the committee, the proposed amendments would "further constrain the already limited ability of the courts to evaluate Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers". On refugee assessments that needed to be "fast-tracked", the report says: "The committee considers that the proposed fast-track arrangement appears to be primarily directed to ensuring the assessment and review processes are as brief as possible."

The committee’s chairman, Dean Smith, a West Australian Liberal Senator, said Australia's sovereignty should not exempt it from the international human rights obligations it has made.

"The committee requires the government to demonstrate it is alert to and respects the obligations it's made in international treaties," he said.

The damning report comes as Australia continues to lobby for a seat on the United Nations' Human Rights Committee to be voted on in 2017.