The Commonwealth Ombudsman has hit out at the Immigration Department over a dramatic spike in deportations of people with criminal convictions from Australia.
Over the past two years, the number of people deported from Australia because of serious criminal convictions - those resulting in prison sentences of more than 12 months - has increased tenfold.
New Zealanders are bearing the brunt of the tougher deportation policies.
Of the more than 1,200 non-citizens who had their Australian visas cancelled between January 2014 and February 2016, almost 700 were New Zealand nationals, with 124 from Britain.
Commonwealth Ombudsman Colin Neave has criticised the federal government's handling of visa cancellations for non-citizens in jail.
He says the Immigration Department has failed in its promise to cancel visas well before someone's estimated date of release from prison.
In one of two reports, Mr Neave says this has led to prolonged family separations, with former prisoners spending too long in immigration detention centres after their release, while their cases are being determined.
The Ombudsman calls for standard processing timeframes, better co-operation between state and federal authorities and priority for people with responsibilities to care for children.
A second report looks into the number of people having Australian bridging visas cancelled because of a criminal charge, conviction or threat.
Investigators have received complaints about some people being held in immigration detention for long periods of time - even after criminal charges were withdrawn or the accused was acquitted, fined or given a good behaviour bond.
