Home affairs wrongfully detained Australian citizen for four days because of paperwork bungle, ombudsman reveals

<p>Department denies a culture of ‘act first, check later’ after report shows the Australian citizen was moved to immigration detention – despite them providing their birth certificate</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/aug/13/australia-news-live-penny-wong-anthony-albanese-gaza-palestine-humanitarian-crisis-reserve-bank-productivity-tax-jim-chalmers-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates </a></p></li><li><p>Get our <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl">breaking news email</a>, <a href="https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3">free app</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl">daily news podcast</a></p></li></ul><p>Home affairs wrongfully detained an Australian citizen because of an administration error, the commonwealth ombudsman has revealed, while another person with a valid visa was incorrectly held for 18 months in immigration detention.</p><p>The Australian citizen, known as Mx C, was born in Australia to New Zealand parents in 1989, automatically granting them citizenship on their 10th birthday – but it was not recorded in departmental records.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/13/home-affairs-wrongfully-detained-australian-citizen-because-of-administration-bungle-ombudsman-reveals-ntwnfb">Continue reading...</a>