The government’s preventative detention legislation, explained

New laws that allow certain former immigration detainees to be re-detained if they have committed a crime and pose an unacceptable risk to the community are not as black and white as they may seem, write Drs Michelle Peterie and Amy Nethery for The Conversation. After a week of non-stop headlines, the government's preventative detention legislation  passed  the lower house, just in time for the end of the sitting year. The new laws will allow former immigration detainees to be re-detained if they are judged to pose a high risk of committing serious violent or sexual crime. The legislation comes after a 20-year legal precedent was overturned in November, when the  High Court found  the government could not detain people indefinitely - regardless of whether they had a criminal history. The High Court's decision was celebrated by  human rights organisations  and some  legal scholars. It was seen as a rare opportunity to reshape Australia's immigration detention policies in line with international law, the constitutional separation of powers, and principles of procedural justice and proportionality. Yet the opportunity for much-needed reform has been frustrated by political point-scoring.