A UN committee has found Australia violated David Hicks' human rights, with his lawyer calling it an appalling abuse of one of its own citizens.
UN Human Rights Committee chair Fabian Salvioli said Mr Hicks had a sentence imposed on him as the result of a "flagrant denial of justice".
The Law Council of Australia has said the decision needs to be given serious consideration by the government.
The findings by the committee, which is composed of 18 independent experts, came after considering a complaint brought by Mr Hicks specifically regarding his treatment by Australia.
The findings are non-binding and the UN can't compel the Australian government to take any action.
However, Mr Hicks' lawyer Stephen Kenny said the decision was "fantastic" and highlighted the federal government's unjust actions.
"His treatment was appalling and the Australian government's role in his imprisonment is a serious abuse of an Australian citizen," Mr Kenny told AAP on Wednesday.
"That needs to change - the attitude that human rights don't really matter if we have a political agenda."
Mr Hicks, now 40, is still suffering from severe health problems in relation to his five and a half years spent at the US-run Guantanamo Bay camp, Mr Kenny said.
Although the committee has not recommended the Australian government pay any reparations to the Adelaide man, Mr Kenny believes his client is entitled to some form of compensation.
Mr Hicks was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001 and sent to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in January 2002.
In March 2007, after pleading guilty under a plea agreement, he was convicted under the US Military Commission Act 2006 with "providing material support for terrorism" and given a seven-year sentence, most of it suspended.
The UN Human Rights Committee said Mr Hicks had "no other choice than to accept" the plea and Australia knew enough about the conditions of the trial to question its legitimacy.
Instead, when he was transferred in May 2007 to Australia, he was imprisoned for another seven months.
The Law Council of Australia president-elect Fiona Mcleod said they had long highlighted the unfair conviction of Mr Hicks.
She said the implication for Australia was particularly complicated as he served time for a then non-existent offence.
Mr Kenny said there had been a long list of abuses that should never have occurred and that he would continue to seek compensation from the Australian government over his treatment.
"It will follow David for the rest of his life and he will suffer as a result of the way he was treated," he said.
The federal government has been contacted for comment.
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