21 Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 12(1). 22 Ibid s 16. 23 Michelle Foster, Jane McAdam and Davina Wadley, ‘Part Two: The Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in Australia: An Ongoing Challenge’ (2016) 40(2) Melbourne University Law Review 456, quoting Revised Explanatory Memorandum, Australian Citizenship Bill 2005 (Cth) 38. 24 Katie Robertson and Sarah Dale, A Place to Call Home: Shining a Light on Unmet Legal Need for Stateless Refugee Children in Australia (March 2021) 2, 12 (A Place to Call Home). 25 Ibid. 26 Department of Home Affairs, ‘Revised Citizenship Procedural Instructions (CPIs) - Australian Citizenship Procedural Instruction, LEGENDcom (Web Page, 2026) <legend.online.immi.gov.au/legend_current_c/2026-08-05-2026/policy/ Pages/_document00000/document000015.aspx>. 27 CQI18 v Minister for Home Affairs [2021] FCA 1168 [113]. For a thorough global analysis of the capacity (and limits) of the Refugee Convention to protect stateless persons see Michelle Foster and Helene Lambert, International Refugee Law and the Protection of Stateless Persons (Oxford University Press 2018). 28 BZADW v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2014] FCA 541; SZUNZ v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2015] FCAFC 32; Szvcn v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2016] FCCA 431; BRH16 v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2016] FCCA 2920; AXL16 v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2017] FCCA 1687; CIY15 v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2017] FCCA 1696; MVLW and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Migration) [2017] AATA 1557; DSO17 v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2018] FCCA 1238. 29 Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 501, s 116, s 133C. 30 Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness (PMCS) (n 20). 31 Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, Freedom of Information Request—FA 24/03/00245 (29 February 2024) <https://www. homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2024/fa-240300245-document-released.PDF>. 32 Ibid. 33 See: Katie Robertson (n 7) 14; Migration Amendment (Temporary Protection Visas) Regulation 2013 (Cth) reg 2.08H(2)(d) (‘Temporary Protection Visas Regulation 2013’); Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 46A(1). 34 Refugee Advice and Casework Service, An Overview of the Current Legal Situation for People Seeking Asylum in Australia (Factsheet, November 2019) 3 <https://www.racs.org.au/s/101-An-Overview-of-the-Current-Legal-Situationfor-People-Seeking-Asylum.pdf>; Refugee Advice and Casework Service, Fact Sheet: Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV) (Factsheet, November 2019) 2 <https://www.racs.org.au/s/202-TPV-andSHEVS-Boat-Arrivals.pdf>. 35 Katie Robertson (n 7) 14; Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Act 2014 (Cth) sch 6 pt 1 cll 1, 7. 36 Katie Robertson, ‘The Right to Belong—Childhood Statelessness in Australia: International and Domestic Legal Measures to Reduce Statelessness at Birth’ (forthcoming) UNSW Australian Journal of Human Rights, for more discussion see: <https://www.melbourneasiareview.edu. au/stateless-refugees-australia-nauru/>. ; Available statistics do not include a breakdown between adults and children, see Australian Senate, ‘Question Taken on Notice: IMA Offshore Management – Transferees sent to offshore detention’ (Additional Estimates Hearing, Immigration and Border Protection Portfolio, AE17/170, 27 February 2017). <https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/ Committees/legcon_ctte/estimates/add_1617/DIBP/QoNs/AE17-170.pdf>. 100 Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness | Understanding Statelessness in Australia 37 Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, ‘Serious Allegations of Abuse, Self-Harm and Neglect of Asylum Seekers in Relation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre, and Any Like Allegations in Relation to the Manus Regional Processing Centre’, Parliament of Australia (Web Page, 2016) <https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/ Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/NauruandManusRPCs>; Australian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Issues Raised by the Transfer of Asylum Seekers to Third Countries (Report, 15 November 2012) <https:// humanrights.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0029/44687/Transfer_third_countries. pdf>; UNHCR, ‘Australia Responsible for Arbitrary Detention of Asylum Seekers in Offshore Facilities, UN Human Rights Committee Finds’, OHCHR (Web Page, 9 January 2025) <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/ australia-responsible-arbitrary-detention-asylum-seekers-offshore-facilities>. 38 Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2019 (Cth) s 198C. Australia’s ‘Medevac’ laws (formally the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2019) were introduced to Parliament in December 2018 and passed in February 2019. The laws gave medical professionals the final say on the temporary transfer of critically ill asylum seekers from offshore detention centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea to mainland Australia for urgent medical treatment. 39 Katie Robertson (n 7) 14; Susan Love, ‘Resolving the Status of Temporary Protection Visa Holders: a Quick Guide’, Parliament of Australia (Web Page, 16 May 2023) <https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_ departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2223/Quick_Guides/ ProtectionVisaHolders>. 40 Subclass 851 Resolution of Status Visa. See: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, ‘Subclass 851 Resolution of Status’, Immigration and Citizenship (Web Page, 2023) <https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/ getting-a-visa/visa-listing/resolution-of-status-851>. 41 See: Katie Robertson (n 7) 14. As of 22 May 2023, there were 1,152 people in Australia ineligible for any form of visa. Classified as ‘transitory persons’ under the Migration Act 1958, these are refugees and asylum seekers who were initially transferred to a regional processing country (Nauru or PNG) then returned to Australia for a ‘temporary purposes’ such as medical treatment under s 198B of the Migration Act. Although the Australian government considers their stay in Australia temporary, majority in this cohort have now been in Australia for years with no clear indication they will be removed. An application for a visa is not considered a valid application under the Migration Act if it is made by a ‘transitory person’ who is in Australia and who is either an unlawful non-citizen or a person who holds a bridging visa, a temporary protection visa, or certain other prescribed temporary visas: s 46B(1). Further, if a transitory person, who has been present in Australia for a temporary purpose, no longer needs to be in Australia for that purpose, then the person must be removed from Australia as soon as reasonably practicable: s 198(1A). 42 See: Katie Robertson (n 7) 16; Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 46A. 43 Australian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Commissioner Calls for Transparency in Nauru Deportation (Media Release, 29 October 2025) <https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/human-rightscommissioner-calls-transparency-nauru-deportation>. 44 Statelessness Encyclopaedia Asia Pacific (SEAP), Nauru Country Overview (Web Page, Nationality for All) <https://seap.nationalityforall.org/region/ regional-overview/the-pacific/nauru/>. 45 Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Protection and Accountability in the Nauru Refugee Context: A Legal Analysis of Refugee Status Determination and Complementary Protection (Kaldor Centre Research Brief, August 2018) <https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/unswadobe-websites/kaldor-centre/2023-09-research-briefs/2023-09-ResearchBrief_NauruRSD_Aug2018.pdf>.