Now lawMigration & Citizenship Introduced in the House of Representatives, 26 Aug 2025

Some people facing removal lose the right to be heard

This law took away the right to a fair hearing for some steps in sending non-citizens out of Australia. It also locked in old visa decisions that a court ruling had put in doubt.

Official name: Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Non-citizens who must leave Australia: They lose the right to be told and heard before steps are taken to send them to another country.
• People sent to Nauru under the new deal: Nauru is a small island country in the Pacific. People sent there cannot challenge the deal just because they were not given a fair hearing.
• People whose visas were refused or cancelled before 8 November 2023: Their decisions stay legal, even if the decision maker thought they could be locked up forever.
• The Department of Home Affairs: This is the department that runs borders and visas. It can share details with other countries and give removal orders without letting people respond first.

High Court limits indefinite detention

Sometimes the government makes a decision that hurts you. The law usually says it must treat you fairly. It must tell you the case against you. It must let you respond. Lawyers call this natural justice, or procedural fairness.

Parliament can switch this off. But it must say so in clear words. The Migration Act 1958 is the main law on visas and who can stay in Australia. It already switches fairness off for some visa cancellations. It also does so for sending boat arrivals to other countries.

In November 2023 the High Court decided a case called NZYQ. The case is named with letters to hide the man's identity. The High Court is Australia's top court. It said the government cannot lock up a non-citizen forever when there is no real chance of removing them. That overturned an older case from 2004, called Al-Kateb after the man in that case.

After that ruling, Parliament passed two laws in late 2024. They let the government make deals with other countries. Those countries agree to take non-citizens who must leave Australia. These deals are called third country reception arrangements.

In February 2025, Nauru gave 30-year visas to three people. They had been living in Australia on bridging visas, which are short-term visas. Court cases followed. In August 2025, Tony Burke, the minister for borders and visas, signed a deal with Nauru's President to take more people.

The Parliamentary Library works for all MPs and takes no side. It points to a media report about Nauru's Parliament. The report says Australia promised $408 million up front and about $70 million a year. Minister Burke brought in this bill soon after.

Third country deals skip hearings

The first part of the law says natural justice does not apply to these deals with other countries. That covers making a deal, getting ready to make one, and anything done under one.

It also switches off natural justice for three related powers. The first lets the Minister or the department share a person's details with another country to help remove them.

The second is an order telling a person to help with their own removal. For example, they might have to apply for a passport. Ignoring the order is a crime. It means at least 12 months in jail and up to five years.

The third lets the department collect, use or share a person's criminal record to help it use its migration powers.

Say a man on a bridging visa has been told he must leave. The department could share his details with Nauru. It could order him to sign travel forms. Under this law, it would not need to hear from him first.

The minister said these fair hearing rules were being used to delay and block removals. The Federal Court is a national court that hears many cases about the government. A Federal Court case in 2025 had already found these powers did not need a fair hearing. The government says the law matches that ruling.

Past actions made valid

The law also makes things done before it started count as legal. This covers deals, sharing of details and removal orders. It applies where these might have broken the law only because no fair hearing was given.

This applies to court cases started after the law began. It also applies to older cases that were still running when it began.

Old visa decisions fixed

The second part of the law responds to a 2024 Federal Court case called AJN23, again named with letters to hide the man's identity. In that case, the Minister refused a man a protection visa because of his past behaviour. A protection visa is a visa for refugees. The Minister thought the man could then be locked up in immigration detention forever.

After the 2023 High Court ruling, that belief turned out to be wrong. A panel of Federal Court judges, called the full court, said the Minister's decision was faulty. It threw the decision out.

This law says any visa decision made on or before 8 November 2023 is legal. This is so even if it relied on that wrong belief. That date is when the High Court made its orders in the 2023 case.

It covers giving, refusing and cancelling visas. It covers refusing to undo a cancellation. It also covers adding or dropping visa conditions. It applies to decisions by the Minister and staff. It also applies to the former Administrative Appeals Tribunal, a body that used to review visa decisions.

Anything done because of those decisions also counts as legal. The government's notes give detention and removal as examples.

Start date

The bill went to the House of Representatives on 26 August 2025. The House passed it on 2 September 2025.

The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 4 September 2025. The Greens, a smaller party, wanted a group of senators to look into it first. Liberal and National senators voted with the government to stop that.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 5 September 2025. It became Act No. 42 of 2025. The main changes started the next day.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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