Federal police have arrested two men in the jungle on Christmas Island during a search for escaped detainees following break-outs and riots at the detention centre.
The arrests follow conflicting government statements on whether all detainees had been accounted for after police regained control of the centre.
On Tuesday, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said a first head count at the centre had not tallied, so a second count, matching detainees with their photos, was being conducted by the centre's private operator Serco.
As that count was under way, AFP Operations Commander Rob Gilliland told reporters on the island that two men were taken into custody by AFP officers conducting searches near the Northwest Point detention centre on Tuesday morning.
The officers "found these two individuals in the jungle", he said.
Mass break-outs preceded last week's riots, in which accommodation marquees and small buildings were burnt down as police used tear gas and "bean-bag bullets" to quell rioters throwing molotov cocktails and rocks.
At least two break-outs occurred, one involving a perimeter fence being pushed down, and up to 170 detainees roamed the island, heightening safety fears in the Christmas Island community.
Police, who now number 189 on the island, have secured the centre, imposing a night-time curfew and electrifying a security fence.
At a community meeting on the island on Tuesday morning, AFP Detective Superintendent Chris Lines told residents the discrepancies identified in the first head count related to "a very small number of detainees".
"This will take some time and it is not helpful to speculate on specific numbers of detainees that may be unaccounted for at this time," he said.
On Sunday he told reporters that up to 20 detainees could still be at large, camping rough in the island's jungles or near beaches.
At Tuesday's meeting, Immigration Department assistant secretary for irregular maritime arrivals Fiona Andrew said she had given incorrect information to the island community on Monday that all detainees had been accounted for inside the centre.
"It was inappropriate for our department to comment on that as the (head count) operation was still in progress," she said.
Ms Andrew told Tuesday's meeting that in the near future "Christmas Island won't be taking any boats unless they are direct arrivals and we will address that when it comes".
Asylum seeker boats intercepted at sea are now being escorted to Broome.
The government has also moved to speed up the processing of asylum seeker security checks.
Labor frontbencher Joe Ludwig told parliament that ASIO was working closely with the Immigration Department on the visa security assessment caseload.
Meanwhile, it's emerged that Ray Wiley, the former Serco manager of the detention centre, sent a damning letter to his boss five months ago, detailing chronic staff shortages and overcrowding.
The letter, detailed in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday, said 240 detainees were housed in tents, 144 in classrooms, 92 in storerooms and 30 in a visiting area.
It said the centre was short by at least 15 staff every day and management should "provide proactive intervention rather than reactive damage control".
But West Australian Premier Colin Barnett on Tuesday defended Serco, saying the break-outs and riots on Christmas Island were "a simple result of the facility being overcrowded".
"You've got large numbers of essentially single males in a confined situation," he said.
Numbers at the detention centre are now down to under 2000, from a peak of over 3000, as the department moves to reduce overcrowding and ease tensions.
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