The removal of convicted noncitizens from Australia : Is there only a ‘minimal and remote’ chance of getting it right?

[Extract] On 22 December 2014 the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (the Minister) issued Direction 65 to supplement section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). This regime enables the Minister or a delegate to cancel a visa held by a noncitizen convicted of an offence on the basis that they have failed a ‘character test’. Ordinarily a person will fail the character test if they have a ‘substantial criminal record’, defined as a criminal conviction attracting a sentence (or, in practice, adding up to cumulative sentences) of 12 months or more.

Of the approximately 500 people in detention awaiting removal (as at December 2015) many have spent most of their life in Australia having arrived as young children. They often have no friends or family in their birth countries and some do not even speak the language of those countries.1 Thousands of dependent children and spouses have also been impacted by the removal of noncitizens from Australia.