The Department of Home Affairs rejected an Australian-born child’s citizenship application after her estranged Australian father couldn’t be reached to provide a DNA test, which her lawyer says rendered her “stateless”.
In a decision quashed by the federal court, the overseas-born mother of the child was told the department did not have proof of a biological link to the father – despite his name being listed on the girl’s birth certificate and Medicare card, his payment of child support and photos of the pair together.
