The Wire

A recent Federal Court decision has undermined the government’s plan to deport criminals who have been convicted by Australian courts but do not have Australian citizenship. Last week Gerard Coleman was released from immigration detention despite a Ministerial decision that his criminal record prohibited him from remaining in Australia. Though Scottish by birth, Mr Coleman had lived in Australia for over 30 years. The Immigration department decided to release him following the Federal Court’s decision in the Nystrom case. In Nystrom the court held that long term residents of Australia, who had no substantial connection to the country of their birth, could not be deported for criminal activity simply because they did not have Australian citzenship. Dr Mary Crock, Professor of Law at the University of Sydney, spoke to Tristan Burt about the background to the Nystrom case and its implications for non-citizens convicted of criminal activity in Australia.