Ankle bracelets and curfews for former immigration detainees will be abolished, and Australia’s highest court will declare them invalid.
The measures followed a Supreme Court ruling that ruled that indefinite detention was illegal and resulted in the release of 215 immigration detainees on October 18, 2024.
Of those, 143 have electronic monitoring bracelets and 126 are under curfew after the federal government passed emergency legislation to add additional restrictions to the cohort.
The legislation went beyond the separation of powers between the courts, which administer criminal sentences, and the Commonwealth government, the Supreme Court found.
Violating visa conditions, including restrictions on electronic monitoring or a curfew, would result in a mandatory prison sentence of at least one year.
“The imposition of both the curfew and the monitoring condition on a (bridging visa R) is prima facie punitive and cannot be justified,” the High Court ruling said on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court bid was launched by a stateless Eritrean who was released from immigration detention under the court’s previous ruling in November 2023 and charged with six offenses of failing to comply with curfew and supervision.
The federal government had taken into account all possible outcomes of the High Court case, including the possibility of further legislation, said Clare Sharp, legal adviser to the Home Office.
The photo shows a detainee being released after the Supreme Court ruled last year that indefinite detention is unlawful
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has been under pressure to resign since the release late last year of more than 150 detainees, including murderers and sex offenders. Mr Giles (left) is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
64 people were not under curfew or electronic monitoring – 56 of whom were previously under at least one of the restrictions, costing taxpayers more than $73 million.
But the lifting of restrictions means 28 people will be taken into police custody.
Of the 215, 12 were convicted of murder or attempted murder, 66 for sexual offences, 97 for assault, 15 for serious drug offences, 15 for domestic violence, five for human trafficking and five had a low or no offense.
Since their release, 62 people have been re-detained at some point.
State and Territory Police have charged 65 people since their release, 20 of whom are in custody. The rest were in the community, either on bail or because their cases had been completed.