Figures exclusively obtained by 1News reveal how many 501 deportees in Australia are successfully appealing their visa cancellation through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The hardline immigration policy lets the Australian Government deport New Zealand citizens who are living and working on character grounds.
It has been the source of tension between the two governments and was raised by Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta in November last year.
Twenty-one New Zealand citizens had their visa cancellation order varied or set aside in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
That number rose to 38 in the 2020-21 year.
Those figures account for about 25 per cent of all cases decided on by the tribunal each fiscal year.
Immigration officials said this number doesn't account for others who appeal their cancellation via other means.
The data also doesn't cover New Zealanders being deported under Section 116 of the act, which gives the Immigration Minister discretionary powers to cancel visas.
Life on the inside
Andre Smith, who is currently in Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre, is due to be deported back to Auckland.
He was convicted by a jury in Western Australia, after delivering a coward punch in 2017.
Smith maintains he didn’t commit the assault but told 1News many of his fellow detainees are being deported for ‘low-level’ incidents.
“For some who’ve just had a fight while they're drunk, I don’t think is a good excuse to ruin someone's life,” he said.
“You're removing someone's whole life from a country.”
Speaking from his accommodation, Smith told 1News that his fellow detainees heading back to New Zealand are struggling.
"The mental health situation of the boys is not great... there's been a couple of suicide attempts here," Smith said.
"I could be here for six months; I could be here for seven, we don't know and that's the hardest thing."
Data from the Australian Government shows the average duration people are being detained for has risen to around 700 days, up from nearly 500 when the 501 policy was brought in.
Australia: 'A responsibility to protect'
1News asked Australia’s Home Affairs Department why a quarter of Administrative Appeals Tribunal cases are successfully appealing, and whether officials are making the wrong decision to cancel some visas.
In a statement, the department said it had a responsibility to protect the community from those who engage in criminal activities.
“All unlawful non-citizens have the right to seek review of a decision to cancel their visa or to not revoke the mandatory cancellation of their visa under the character provisions of the Act.”
"Where unlawful non-citizens have exhausted all administrative, procedural, and legal avenues open to them, and have no lawful basis for remaining in Australia, they are expected to depart.”
Filipa Payne, who is an advocate for New Zealanders being deported from Australia, says the policy is discriminatory and tears lives apart.
She also believes many more New Zealanders are eligible to have their decisions reversed, but the process is intimidating.
"A lot of these men when they're handed their papers, they can't read and write," she said.
“They put it to the side because it’s too overwhelming.”
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