The High Court of Australia has today ruled that forcing people released from immigration detention to wear ankle bracelets and live under curfews is unconstitutional.  

The legal challenge, brought by a person referred to by the pseudonym YBFZ, invalidates laws rushed through by the Albanese Government in December 2023 which attempted to criminalise and control people released from indefinite immigration detention, where there is no real prospect that they could be removed from Australia.  

The High Court recognised that nightly curfews and ankle bracelets are forms of punishment which have real impacts on people’s lives and cannot be justified. Fundamental protections in law against arbitrary detention and interference with bodily integrity apply equally to all people in Australia, whether they are citizens or not.  

The ruling means that the 143 people living with ankle bracelet monitors and 126 people living with strict curfews in the community will be able to resume their lives without punitive government surveillance and monitoring. The plaintiff was represented by Refugee Legal. 

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes this decision from the High Court and calls on the Albanese Government to end its attempts to punish people on the basis of visa status, and instead support people to rebuild their lives in safety, freedom and dignity. 

Quotes attributable to Laura John, Associate Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre: 

“Today the High Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional for the government to continue to punish people who have been released from immigration detention, by forcing them to wear ankle bracelets and live under curfews. 

“Every person should have the same rights to freedom and dignity. But over 100 people have been locked inside their houses every night, and subjected to invasive ankle bracelets, simply because of their visa status. That ends today.  

“Curfews and ankle bracelets impose ongoing punishment by disrupting families, making it near impossible to find work, and putting people in constant fear of being sent to prison if they are just a few minutes late arriving home. 

“Successive Australian governments oversaw a harmful and unsustainable regime of indefinite immigration detention. Instead of allowing people who were released from detention to rebuild their lives, the Albanese Government has substituted one form of punishment for another.  

“The High Court has now made clear that continuing to punish people who have been released from detention is no longer an acceptable solution. 

“This decision will have real, life-changing impacts for those who have been deprived of hope, liberty, and security for years on end who must now – finally – be given the opportunity to rebuild their lives. 

Read the Human Rights Law Centre’s explainer of the judgment here.  

Media Contact: 
Chandi Bates
Media and Communications Manager
Human Rights Law Centre
0430 277 254
chandi.bates@hrlc.org.au