High Court bombshell could force Albanese government to pay compensation to foreign-born criminals

By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 05:02, 10 June 2026 | Updated: 05:25, 10 June 2026 The Albanese government could face massive compensation payouts to foreign-born criminals who were held in indefinite immigration detention after a landmark High Court ruling. On Wednesday, the entire bench in the High Court rejected the Commonwealth's contention that it should be protected from damages claims over detention found to be unlawful.  It described the Commonwealth's case as a 'perversion' of constitutional principles.  The ruling is likely to pave the way for hundreds of compensation claims from former detainees released following the landmark 2023 NZYQ decision.  The NZYQ decision was the 2023 High Court ruling that found Australia could not indefinitely detain non-citizens who had no realistic prospect of being deported, leading to the release of hundreds of immigration detainees.  The Daily Mail has contacted the Albanese government for comment on the decision. The High Court came to its decision due to a case brought by Austrian citizen Safwat Abdel-Hady, who was detained in Australia in 2017. Mr Abdel-Hady, who first visited Australia in 1997, held various visas until one was cancelled in March 2017 and he was taken into custody, the High Court noted. The government could face huge compensation payouts to foreign-born criminals who were held in indefinite immigration detention (Pictured, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke) After he was diagnosed with thrombophilia in 2022, it was found Mr Abdel-Hady was unable to travel by plane, and so could not be removed from Australia, the decision said. According to the High Court decision, the Commonwealth accepted the following detention of Mr Abdel-Hady from July 28, 2022, to February 13, 2024, was not authorised under the Migration Act, and so accepted the elements of the 'tort of false imprisonment'. But the government told the High Court it should not be liable for civil damages. However, the full bench of the High Court ruled in Mr Abdel-Hady's favour. 'The former would be immune from liability for false imprisonment if acting upon a mistaken understanding of the law but the latter would not,' High Court Justice James Edelman noted in his decision. 'That different treatment would be inconsistent with the Diceyan principle of legal equality of all persons under the law.  'All persons are required to comply with the law in its proper application to their conduct as well as with orders and commands of the courts.' Following the High Court decision, Shadow Home Affairs and Immigration Minister, Senator Jonno Duniam, published a harsh critique of the Commonwealth. 'This is another NZYQ disaster for the Albanese Government,' he said in a statement. 'The High Court has today made clear that the Commonwealth does not have the defence it sought in this case. 'That means taxpayers may now be exposed to tens of millions of dollars in further liabilities because this Government failed to properly manage the legal and practical consequences of NZYQ. 'A strong government would have acted early, acted decisively and put community safety first. This Government has done the opposite.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.