470 Melbourne University Law Review [Vol 40:456 ness. This broad discretion is compounded by the fact that international law, including the 1961 Convention, does not have binding force in Australian law in the absence of domestic implementation, and there is no bill of rights at the Commonwealth level. For these reasons, much of the analysis below focuses on the relevant statutory instrument for regulating citizenship, and hence the prevention and reduction of statelessness: the Citizenship Act. V T H E P R E V E N T I O N A N D R E D U C T I O N O F S TAT E L E S S N E S S I N A U S T R A L IA N L AW : A N A NA LYS I S There are some aspects of Australian citizenship law and policy that provide good practice with regard to the prevention of statelessness.77 For instance, Australian citizenship law and policy does not discriminate against persons based on their gender, religion, marital status, ethnicity or other discriminatory grounds adopted by some countries (eg, whether a person is born out of wedlock).78 Australian citizens are not at risk of having their citizenship revoked on account of extended time abroad.79 They are permitted to hold multiple citizenships.80 Further, in accordance with art 2 of the 1961 Convention, an abandoned child is automatically an Australian citizen ‘unless and until the contrary is proved.’81 A number of provisions of the Citizenship Act 77 Good practice, with reference to statelessness, is defined as ‘effective implementation of legal standards established by the 1954 Convention, UNHCR guidance and international human rights law; [i]n addition, and without compromising the first principle, [good practice] facilitates practical efficiency’: Gábor Gyulai, ‘Statelessness Determination and the Protection Status of Stateless Persons: A Summary Guide of Good Practices and Factors to Consider when Designing National Determination and Protection Mechanisms’ (Guidelines, European Network on Statelessness, 2013) 7 (emphasis altered). 78 In Madagascar, for example, ‘mothers are only permitted to confer nationality on children born in wedlock if the father is stateless or of unknown nationality’: UNHCR, ‘Gender Equality Background Note’, above n 14. 79 This is in contrast to Indonesian nationality law whereby, in stipulated circumstances, a person loses their citizenship if they reside for five consecutive years outside the territories of the Republic of Indonesia without declaring their intention to retain their citizenship (provided this does not result in statelessness): Undang-Undang Nomor 12 Tahun 2006 Tentang Kewarganegaraan Republik Indonesia [Law No 12 of 2006 on Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia] (Indonesia) art 23(i). 80 Department of Immigration and Border Protection (Cth), Dual Citizenship <http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/Curr/Dual-citizenship>. Legislative restrictions on dual citizenship were repealed in 2002: see generally Symposium, ‘Diversity, Integration and Citizenship’ (2009) 15(1) Humanities Research 1. 81 Citizenship Act s 14.