The issue of new laws for released detainees is set to dominate the final sitting week of federal parliament for the year.
The new laws are being introduced by the Albanese government in response to a High Court ruling last month that found the indefinite detention of refugees was unlawful.
The government is aiming to pass new laws, modelled on the high-risk terrorist offenders regime, before parliament rises on Thursday.
Under the proposed legislation, the government could raise concerns about an individual and a court would have the final say if they pose an unacceptable risk to the community.
If the court agreed, it would result in them being locked back up.
The new laws would likely apply to only a small cohort of the released detainees.
The Coalition has been demanding such legislation since the High Court ruling, but there is no guarantee it will make the debate in parliament easy for Labor.
In its decision on November 8, the High Court overruled a 20-year precedent set by the 2004 case of Ahmed Al-Kateb, a stateless Palestinian man without a criminal record.
The Al-Kateb case found the Migration Act permitted indefinite detention and said that detention wasn’t in breach of the constitution’s separation of powers – a finding the High Court disproved in its reasons.
The decision resulted in more than 140 detainees being freed. It was revealed that the group included violent and sex offenders.
(9 News)
