An Australian woman linked to Islamic State (IS) will return home from Syria after the government granted her a permit. The last in the cohort of so-called “ISIS brides”, she will be allowed to re-enter Australia with her child.

Of the group, she was previously the only one to be temporarily barred from coming home because she’d been subject to a government-issued “temporary exclusion order”.

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, who originally issued the order earlier this year, said the government “received the final advice yesterday that we can no longer have an exclusion condition any longer for her”.

While the situation will likely be politically difficult for the government, evidence shows it’s the safest course of action for all involved – and the only legal one.

The laws of exclusion

Under domestic counterterrorism law, Australia can stop a citizen suspected of sympathising with or acting for a terrorist organisation from coming back by issuing a temporary exclusion order.

These orders mean the government refuses to issue the relevant documentation to allow someone to fly internationally, essentially blocking them from moving. The orders can apply for up to two years.

But citizens, specifically those........

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