Australia’s high court orders ankle bracelets be removed and curfews end for former immigration detainees

The Albanese government’s preventative detention regime suffered another blow on Wednesday, as the court ruled the tough laws to deal with the NZYQ cohort were unconstitutional.

Dozens of former immigration detainees who have already served prison sentences will have ankle bracelets removed and curfews scrapped, with the high court again striking down laws targeting the group. The ruling meant those subject to electronic monitoring and curfew conditions would have their bracelets removed and instead have to regularly report to officials. It also meant the government could no longer impose curfews.

The case was brought by a Papua New Guinea citizen, referred to as EGH19 in the courts, who arrived in Australia in 2000 and was convicted of murder in 2006 while still a minor. The man was offered a protection visa in 2022, but it was cancelled almost two years later after he pleaded guilty to domestic violence offences. He was released on parole in December 2024 and placed in immigration detention upon his release in April 2025, when he was then required to wear an ankle bracelet and abide by a curfew.

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre’s deputy chief executive, Jana Favero, said the ruling showed the government had been “making rushed laws on the run, with no regard for fairness or our country’s constitution”. While Greg Barns SC, spokesperson for the Australians Lawyers Alliance, criticised the government for succumbing to “populist scare mongering by the media and its political opponents”, and it should be a broader reminder to governments that it is only the courts that have the constitutional power to impose punishments.