Melbourne man 'dumbfounded' after finding out he lost Australian citizenship 33 years ago

Glenn Keogh found out he had lost his Australian citizenship in 1991 via an email from Home Affairs in 2024.  (ABC Radio Melbourne: Darcy Hodgson)

Glenn Keogh was born in Australia to Australian parents and has never lived overseas.

But two weeks ago, he discovered he had not been an Australian citizen since 1991.

“I don’t know how to describe it, except it floored me,” he said.

“I was working at the time and I was just dumbfounded.”

Last month the 55-year-old was informed by Home Affairs that he had no Australian citizenship or visa, due to a law that was repealed more than 20 years ago.

When the father-of-two told his employer about the situation, he was initially stood down from work without pay.

“I’m no longer Australian and apparently I haven’t been for the last 33 years,” Mr Keogh told Raf Epstein on ABC Radio Melbourne Mornings.

“It’s not a situation I expected to find myself in. I’m mid-50s, I’ve paid my taxes … I’m very grateful to be Australian.”

Applying for Irish citizenship had unintended consequences

Mr Keogh’s grandparents were Irish and, proud of his ancestry, he decided to register his heritage with the Irish government when he was 22.

He didn’t understand that would automatically be treated as an application for Irish citizenship or, crucially, that he would immediately lose Australian citizenship as a result.

Mr Keogh received Irish citizenship and a passport, which he held alongside Australian identity documents which technically were not valid.

It was never flagged as a problem until he came forward late last year.

When Mr Keogh shared his story on ABC Radio Melbourne today, the office of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles, said they were looking into Mr Keogh’s case.

Three hours later his citizenship was restored.

He said he was “absolutely elated” to have his citizenship restored after going to the media, but the problem was not solved.

‘I felt punished’

Mr Keogh first realised he may be in trouble when he read an ABC article about another man whose citizenship was revoked because of a little-known, now-repealed piece of legislation.

Before 2002, Australians lost their citizenship rights if they took up citizenship with another country, under Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948.

That law was repealed in 2002 but it was not applied retrospectively.

Mr Keogh applied for a resumption of citizenship in December.

“I put my hand up and I made contact with Home Affairs,” he said.

“I didn’t hear anything for about three-and-a-half months.”

When immigration officials eventually got in touch in February, they said Mr Keogh had likely lost his citizenship, and a few weeks later they confirmed the worst.

Mr Keogh said his communication with the department was “pretty harsh”.

“I’m very much aware this section of law still needs to be amended to allow people in my position to appeal for amnesty,” Mr Keogh said.

“[The department] needs to respect that people in my situation did not intend to ever give up their citizenship.

“They should be respected, but I felt punished.”

It is unknown how many people remain in Australia who lost their citizenship before 2002 and who have not been detected by immigration officials.

‘I’ve heard from families torn apart’

Another Australian man, Matthew Niall, went through the same ordeal in late 2022, and he became a support for Mr Keogh while he was stuck in limbo.

“The response to my story shared in the ABC article has been overwhelming,” Mr Niall said.

“I’ve heard from families torn apart, lives up-ended by the same bureaucratic labyrinth.

“It’s clear to us that change is needed.”

Mr Niall and his children lost their Australian citizenship due to the defunct law, and while Mr Niall’s has been reinstated, he is still fighting for his children’s right to officially become Australians.

Their mother is not Australian and the Niall family currently lives in Denmark.

Mr Keogh and Mr Niall want to fight for change, but legal costs are a huge barrier.

“What the average Australian views as unjust and most likely unconstitutional has been left unchallenged in the High Court, as to do so would be to risk financial ruin,” Mr Niall said.

Mr Keogh said the government’s position on Section 17 marginalised “a fair percentage of the population” who had no incentive to come forward.

“I think change can be made here, I don’t think it’s a hard thing.”

Raf Epstein’s Mornings show is live on ABC Radio Melbourne every weekday from 8:30-11am. Tune in on 774 AM, digital radio or the Listen app.