Nearly 200 Character-Based Visa Cancellations Overturned by Tribunal: Inquiry

Questions have been raised about whether Australia’s character assessment process is fit for purpose.

An Australian Federal Police officer on patrol at Sydney Domestic Airport in Sydney, Australia on July 31, 2017. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Nearly 200 migrants have won the right to remain in Australia after the government tried to cancel their visas, a Senate estimates hearing has been told.

The Department of Home Affairs lost 196 visa cancellation cases on character grounds before the Administrative Review Tribunal in the current financial year to March 31, officials told the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on May 27.