STATELESS PEOPLE AND REFUGEES IN AUSTRALIA
Stateless people are not considered as a national by any country. A person can be both stateless and a refugee. There are an estimated 1.5 million stateless refugees around the world.
Statelessness can be caused by a range of factors, including gaps in nationality laws, discriminatory laws, the formation or cessation of countries, and loss of citizenship. Many stateless people are unable to access basic services like healthcare or education. Stateless people often cannot get legal identity documents, making it difficult to work in formal employment and to travel across borders.
In 2024, the UNHCR reported 8,313 stateless people in Australia. However, Australia does not have a standard process for determining the status of stateless people and therefore, UNHCR estimates that there are many more stateless people in Australia.
Legal definition of stateless persons
Australia is party to both the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (‘the 1954 Convention’) and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (‘the 1961 Convention’), which establish the international law on statelessness.
The 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. The 1954 Convention also provides limited circumstances where the Convention shall not apply, for example, where there are serious reasons for considering that the individual has committed a war crime. The 1961 Convention was subsequently adopted to provide concrete obligations for contracting parties (including Australia) in efforts to reduce statelessness. Parties to the 1961 Convention are required to grant nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless (a) at birth, by operation of law, or (b) upon an application being lodged.
According to the Australian Citizenship Act, a stateless person is eligible to become an Australian citizen if they are not currently, and have never been, a national or citizen of any country, and if they are not entitled to acquire the nationality or citizenship of another country (Article 21(8)). However, in practice, stateless people face many barriers receiving citizenship.
Australia does not have a specific visa category for stateless people or a pathway to permanent residency. Often, stateless people apply for protection visas, similar to refugees. In practice, when a stateless person’s visa is cancelled or refused, there is no country where they can be returned. The High Court challenge of NZYQ was brought by a stateless Rohingya man who was detained in immigration detention after his visa had been cancelled (for more information on immigration detention, read our Explainer here). In November 2023, the High Court ruled that it was unlawful to indefinitely detain people without any prospect for removal and NZYQ, along with many others, was released.
Next → AUSTRALIA’S RESPONSE TO THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT
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Last updated 28 April 2025