If a person receives a positive decision from either procedure, they can then seek a residence permit on the grounds of statelessness for a period of either two or five years and grants them access to essential services (including the national health system), work rights and the ability to apply for travel documents. cxii Most significantly, they are entitled to apply for naturalisation after a five-year period of uninterrupted residence in Italy. cxiii Italy’s statelessness determination procedure and path to naturalisation for persons formally recognised as stateless offer a potential blueprint for Australia in terms of a path forward on addressing statelessness. Careful consideration must be given to the observed strengths and weaknesses of the Italian administrative and judicial models with a view to assessing which may work best in the Australian context. Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness in Italy Italian nationality law is based on the principle of jus sanguinis (citizenship by decent, acquired through a child’s parents), however jus soli (birthright citizenship) applies to children born in Italy if:  the child’s parents are unknown or stateless;cxiv  if the child cannot acquire their parents’ citizenship;cxv or  if the child is a ‘foundling’.cxvi Although children who are born stateless in Italy are entitled to acquire Italian nationality, barriers exist that make it challenging for parents to access this entitlement on their child’s behalf (as is the case in Australia). For example, parents of Italian-born stateless children must provide relevant supporting documents to the municipal Nationality Office. These may often include declarations from foreign embassies that can be challenging or impossible for parents to obtain, especially those that have been stateless for generations.cxvii As is also the case in Australia, there is a lack of awareness within Italian stateless communities about the right of Italian born children to apply for nationality.cxviii Similar to Australia, individuals and organisations reported similar challenges to addresses childhood statelessness in Italy, including a lack of understanding about statelessness amongst the Italian legal profession and a difficulty for stateless people to access and obtain adequate legal support. 57