High Court rules against ankle monitors and curfews for foreign criminals released from immigration detention
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has intervened to keep ankle bracelets and curfews for detainees released from immigration centres after the High Court ruled Labor’s original law was unconstitutional.
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Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has intervened to keep ankle bracelets and curfews for detainees released from immigration centres after the High Court ruled Labor’s original law was unconstitutional.
Mr Burke moved to sign off on new regulations to keep the monitoring measures in place on Wednesday afternoon and said the federal government would back in the urgent adjustments with new legislation on Thursday.
In a decision handed down on Wednesday morning, the High Court found in favour of a 36-year-old stateless refugee, known as YBFZ, who had challenged the measures Labor initially rushed through parliament in December.
Of the 215 non-citizens released from immigration centres over the last year in the wake of an earlier High Court ruling against their indefinite detention, 143 were subjected to electronic monitoring and 126 had curfew conditions imposed as of October 18.
Of the cohort released, 65 former detainees have been charged with new offences at the state and territory level in the past year, of whom 45 remain free in the community.
Mr Burke said Labor was taking “immediate steps to protect community safety” following the YBFZ case.
“We argued strongly in the High Court to keep electronic monitoring and curfews in place.
The court’s decision is not the one the Government wanted, but it is one the government has prepared for,” he said in a statement.
“The security and safety of the Australian community will always be the absolute priority for this government.”
Mr Burke said the government’s proposed new laws would also “strengthen the government’s power to remove people who have had their visas cancelled to third countries”.
In a joint statement released after the ruling, Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson, immigration spokesman Dan Tehan and Attorney-General spokeswoman Michaelia Cash called on Labor to explain how it would protect Australians following the “embarrassing” High Court loss.
“The effect of this decision will be that 215 dangerous non-citizen offenders including 12 murderers, 66 sex offenders, 97 people convicted of assault, 15 domestic violence perpetrators and others will be free in the community without any monitoring or curfews,” they said.
Following Mr Burke’s announcement about the regulatory change, Mr Tehan said the Coalition would “consider what the government proposes when we see it”.
He also criticised Anthony Albanese and Mr Burke for failing to speak publicly on the matter after the High Court ruling was handed down.
“It beggars belief that neither the Prime Minister or Tony Burke has spoken with the Australian people to reassure them that hey have a plan to keep them safe,” he said.
‘Embarrassing’: Labor under pressure after immigration ruling
Labor is under pressure to explain how it will keep Australians safe after suffering an “embarrassing loss” in the High Court ending the use of ankle bracelets and curfews to monitor immigration detainees free in the community.
The Coalition has called on the federal government to introduce new laws immediately to respond to the court ruling electronic ankle monitors and curfews were punitive and therefore unconstitutional.
In the decision handed down on Wednesday morning, the court found in favour of a 36-year-old stateless refugee, known as YBFZ, who had challenged the measures Labor rushed through parliament in December last year.
The government unsuccessfully argued the legislation was an alternative response to managing non-citizens who could not be deported, and not a form of punishment.
The curfews and ankle monitors had been imposed on the cohort of convicted criminals released from immigration detention since November 2023 in the wake of the NZYQ High Court decision.
In that case, the court found detainees unable to be deported after completion of their criminal sentences — either because they were stateless, their home country was unwilling to accept them, or it was unsafe to send them — also could not be held indefinitely in immigration detention centres.
As a result 215 individuals were released into the community and in the last year at least 65 have been charged with new state and territory criminal offences.
The use of ankle monitors and curfews was designed to assist authorities monitoring the cohort and reassure the public of their safety.
In a joint statement released after Wednesday’s decision scrapping those measures, Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson, immigration spokesman Dan Tehan and Attorney-General spokeswoman Michaelia Cash called on Labor to explain how it would protect Australians following the “embarrassing” High Court loss.
“The effect of this decision will be that 215 dangerous non-citizen offenders including 12 murderers, 66 sex offenders, 97 people convicted of assault, 15 domestic violence perpetrators and others will be free in the community without any monitoring or curfews,” they said.
“65 of these former detainees have been charged with new offences at the state and territory level since their release, 45 of which remain free in the community.”
The Coalition said the loss compounded the “failure” of the Albanese government to use the preventive detention powers the parliament rushed through almost 12 months ago to re-detain any high-risk offenders.
“The government repeatedly assured us that the amendments they drafted were constitutionally sound, and as recently as Monday in Senate estimates promised they had comprehensive contingency plans in place if they were unsuccessful in this case,” they said.
“Tony Burke must immediately reveal what urgent action the government will take in response to this loss to protect Australians from the dangerous criminal non-citizens it has released into the community since the NZYQ decision last year.”
The Coalition said Labor should be ready to introduce legislation into the House of Representatives immediately in response to ruling.
“The Coalition again stands ready to facilitate the swift passage of any legislation required to fix the government’s mess and keep Australians safe,” the statement said.
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