The situation in Nauru is absolutely abhorrent, but discussing it is outside the scope of this post. It isn't the Australian military there... The situation is controlled by a private security firm under the employ of the Australian Government.
The private security firm didn't create the policy of mandatory indefinite remote detention with little oversight.
And while it may be cognitively useful to pretend Australian border defense is not a military issue, you have created a ranked force defending the state's "territorial integrity" through the use of force.
You originally wrote, "I find it at odds that a nation that has such ardour and pride for their servicemen and servicewomen would basically condone human rights abuse by and unto those same personnel."
The UN has repeatedly decried Austrlia's migration policies as human rights abuses.
The reason migration policies are germane, even if they're enforced by civilians, is because they're an example where Australians exhibit the same blind spots you're decrying in people from other countries.
If you're genuinely curious how people take pride in flawed governments, look closer to home. Really though, it's a universal human condition.
Except on Nauru?
http://kvpr.org/post/save-children-ex-employee-leaks-details...