The High Court of Australia has ruled that it is unconstitutional for the Home Affairs Minister to strip dual nationals of their Australian citizenship. This applies to children aged 14 to 18. The case was brought to the High Court by Delil Alexander, who remains in a Syrian jail without access to his family after his Australian citizenship was removed last year.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement that he and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil would examine the judgment and its implications in detail, but noted that "there was no threat to Australia as a result of the decision". The Australian government has a range of measures available to manage the risk posed to Australians by individuals offshore including the temporary exclusion order regime which can prohibit an individual from returning to Australia for up to two years. In 2018, the then-Labor opposition questioned the laws when they passed parliament saying they appeared constitutionally invalid - a position backed by legal and human rights groups.
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