Foreigners who commit domestic violence and forced marriage face being deported even if they are not convicted as the government clamps down on the shocking crimes.
Tough-talking new immigration minister Alex Hawke has signed a direction ordering officials to take the offences more seriously when assessing visas.
He announced his new rules in a speech at the Western Sydney Women organisation on International Women s Day.
Foreigners who commit domestic violence and forced marriage face being deported even if they are not convicted. Pictured: Australian Federal Police arrested two women and a 20-year-old man in rural Victoria in October. They were all charged with causing a person to enter a forced marriage
Vigils held across the country, three years after Biloela Tamil family were forcibly taken sbs.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sbs.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tharunicaa Murugappan is three years old and has spent three years in immigration detention.
The Australian-born daughter of Tamil asylum seekers Priya and Nades is the youngest person in Australia’s detention system - one of only two children along with her sister Kopika, five - and is at the centre of the family’s last-ditch legal bid to remain in the country.
The family were taken from their home in the small Queensland town of Biloela on 5 March 2018 and placed in Melbourne’s Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) after overstaying their visa. Tharunicaa was only eight months old at the time.
Biloela community members and friends of the Murugappan family gathered for a dawn vigil on Friday morning to mark the three-year anniversary of their detention.