Australian Citizenship Amendment (Strengthening the Citizenship Loss Provisions) Bill 2018
The submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security’s inquiry into the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Strengthening the Citizenship Loss Provisions) Bill 2018 was prepared by the Law Council.
The Bill seeks to amend the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) (the Act) to:
- remove the requirement that a person be sentenced to 6 or more years of imprisonment for a relevant terrorism offence to be eligible to lose their Australian citizenship; and
- replace the current requirement that a person is a national or citizen of a country other than Australia at the time the minister makes a determination that the person ceases to be an Australian citizen with the requirement that, if the minister were to determine that the person ceases to be an Australian citizen, the minister is satisfied the person will not become a person who is not a national or citizen of any country.
The Law Council understands the necessity of laws which are enacted to maintain the security of Australia and the safety of Australian citizens. However, it is important that such laws are proportionate and be demonstrated by evidence to meet that objective. Measures to remove citizenship challenge key legal principles on which our democracy was founded, and therefore demand very careful consideration by the Commonwealth Parliament.
You can read the full submission below.