A two-day riot at the Christmas Island immigration detention centre caused $10 million worth of damage.
Seven men - five New Zealanders, a Tongan and an Afghan - involved in the unrest were transferred to a Perth prison overnight and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has indicated more detainees could be moved.
"We're just not going to tolerate this kind of behaviour," he told Sydney radio 2GB.
It's believed the first group are mostly convicted criminals whose visas have been cancelled.
The immigration department initially estimated the damage bill at about $1 million.
But Mr Dutton said the figure had been upgraded to $10 million.
He also confirmed detainees broke into a medical clinic, removing drugs, and a storage area for gardening equipment.
"These people will have to pay for the damage they have caused through the criminal courts," he said.
The riot was sparked by the death of an Iranian detainee who escaped the compound on the weekend and later died.
Mr Dutton has spoken to Serco, the company managing the centre, amid reports guards in the main control room didn't recognise the perimeter alarm which sounded when the detainee got out.
His absence wasn't detected for two hours.
Mr Dutton said Border Force officers were examining what went wrong.
"Clearly, at a management level, we need to get an understanding how it is they are going to guarantee this sort of incident doesn't occur again," he said.
"It's unacceptable."
