Australia’s Long History of Immigration, Policing and the Criminal Law

Abstract

Modern immigration is a highly regulated procedure governing the mobility of peoples between sovereign jurisdictions. This procedure has been progressively refined since the late 18 th century through mechanisms of government that have frequently deployed the apparatus of criminal law. In this chapter we examine the long history of the intersection of criminal law and policing regimes in the service of immigration control in Australia. We take the Australian case as exemplary rather than exceptional. The particular conditions of British settlement of the convict colonies and the later construction of the White Australia Policy constitute a particular local formation of a more general phenomenon found in the development of modern states. Through a brief history of Australian immigration law and policing we highlight both the long-standing criminalisation of migration regulation breaches, and the persistent governmental concerns with the exclusion of undesirable populations, especially of those with criminal records. In the light of these histories we question the assumption that 'crimmigration' is a peculiarly late modern convergence of criminal law and immigration regulation.

Historicising Australian Deportation of 'Suspect' and 'Undesirable' Migrant Communities

“…Most saliently, it led to the Australian Government using deportation as a tool to exert power over its borders, as well as developing a greater awareness of the effects of this power in terms of serving Australia's immediate interests. This has left a legacy that has had a deep influence on Australian border policies and practices (Finnane and Kaladelfos 2019;Jupp 2002;Piccini and Smith 2019). Indeed, the deportation of Pacific Islanders to New Zealand has been increasing since 2014 (Weber and Powell 2020), reflecting the cyclical nature of the policy (McNeill and Marmo 2023).…”

“…The practices that reflect the overlap between immigration control and criminal justice have been occurring in Australia since the early twentieth century (Finnane and Kaladelfos 2019;Grewcock 2011). In the first year of the formation of the Australian Federation in 1901, alongside powers preventing individuals from entering Australia, powers of deportation were written into the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (Cth) (1901 Immigration Restriction Act).…”

Legal decision making about (child) sexual assault complaints: the importance of the information-gathering process

“…In Australia child sexual abuse cases comprised the majority of sexual offences prosecuted in the late 19th century (Finnane and Smaal 2016) and again in the 1950s (Featherstone and Kaladelfos 2016). Concerns about the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse allegations are not a new phenomenon.…”