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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Paul Karp Chief political correspondent

Andrew Giles approved rule change that raised risk serious criminals might keep visas

Former immigration minister Andrew Giles in June
Former immigration minister Andrew Giles (pictured in June 2024) approved a March 2023 proposal that he only review visa cancellation cases involving ‘very serious ongoing risk’. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Andrew Giles raised the threshold for ministerial reconsideration of character cancellations, increasing the risk that criminals convicted of serious offences might keep their visas.

Documents released under freedom of information reveal that in March 2023 the then immigration minister approved a home affairs department plan to only send him cases from the administrative appeals tribunal if a non-citizen who won their visa back posed a “very serious ongoing risk”, instead of a “serious risk”.

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