1961 CONVENTION ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM
PRACTICAL MEASURES TO MEANINGFULLY
IMPLEMENT ARTICLE 1(1) OF THE 1961 CONVENTION
ON THE REDUCTION OF STATELESSNESS IN AUSTRALIAN
LAW AND PRACTICE
KATIE ROBERTSON*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 204
Childhood Statelessness at a Glance ..................................................................... 205
Childhood Statelessness: The Australian Context ................................................. 206
Accessing Citizenship in Australia: The Reality ................................................... 207
A Issue One: Lack of Awareness .................................................................. 207
B Issue Two: Difficulty in Accessing and Navigating the Citizenship
Application Process................................................................................... 208
C Issue Three: A Lack of Consistent and Coordinated Data Regarding
Australia’s Stateless Population ................................................................ 208
Accessing Citizenship in Australia: Practical Solutions........................................ 209
A Issue One: A New National Statelessness Network to Increase Awareness
................................................................................................................... 210
B Issue Two: A New Legal Clinic to Assist Stateless Children ................... 210
C Issue Three: The First ‘Mapping’ Study of Australia’s Stateless Population
................................................................................................................... 211
The Need for Practical Measures to Meaningfully Reduce Child Statelessness ... 211
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 212
INTRODUCTION
Being stateless has been a huge source of sadness for me in my life. I hope for better
for my children.1
— Amir,* Australian-based stateless Palestinian father of four.
*
1
BA, LLB (Hons), LLM (Public and International Law) (University of Melbourne); Human
Rights Lawyer and Research Fellow/ Coordinator, Stateless Children Legal Clinic, Peter
McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne. I
wish to acknowledge Sarah Dale, Principal Lawyer and Centre Director, the Refugee Advice
& Casework Service, for her work in assisting stateless children to apply for Australian
citizenship and her partnership and support in researching this issue and in the establishment
of the Stateless Children Legal Clinic. All names of stateless persons marked with * in this
commentary have been changed to protect their identities.
Katie Robertson and Sarah Dale, A Place to Call Home: Shining a Light on Unmet Legal
Need for Stateless Refugee Children in Australia (Report, Refugee Advice & Casework
Service and Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, March 2021) 9
<https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/3645547/StatelessChildrenReport.p
df> (‘A Place to Call Home’).