Three years after beating deportation, Indigenous Australians freed from visa limbo

Exclusive: Group were unable to work, access Medicare or travel internationally since historic high court ruling

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A group of Indigenous Australians who spent almost three years in limbo without basic human rights since the high court ruled they could not be deported as aliens have at last been granted special purpose visas allowing them to work, access Medicare and travel internationally.

But the group, some of whom spent years in onshore and offshore immigration detention prior to the court ruling in February 2020, still don’t know how their citizenship claims will ultimately be resolved.

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