The Administrative Appeals Tribunal overturned decisions to cancel the visas of murderers, drug dealers and rapists on 164 occasions.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has been accused of rescuing hardened foreign-born criminals from deportation since 2010.
An investigation by the
Herald Sun newspaper reveals the tribunal overturned decisions to cancel the visas of murderers, drug dealers and rapists on 164 occasions — criminals that ministerial delegates claimed were too violent to keep in Australia.
Of the 164 cases, eight were convicted killers, 17 were rapists, 33 were drug dealers and 23 were found guilty of armed robbery.
Decisions handed down by delegates of the Immigration Minister detailed the need to kick them out of the country in order to protect Australian citizens from the criminals’ “substantial criminal records”.
The
Herald Sun also found the tribunal was overturning more visa decisions of convicted criminals than it was upholding.
Of the 13,755 visa decisions handed down from delegates for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in the past financial year, 5276 were rejected and only 5110 were approved.
A spokeswoman from the tribunal told the
Herald Sun that the ATT valued public scrutiny and its members were subject to Federal Court supervision and were required to apply the law and any relevant ministerial directions.
The spokeswoman added that members were also expected to consider extra information that might not have been before the delegate, and tested evidence at hearings.
