Brendan Thoms with his mother Jenny and his father Robert.
This connection means they cannot be deported,even if they are born outside Australia and are not Australian citizens.
Papua New Guinea-born Kamilaroi man Daniel Love and New Zealand-born Gunggari man Brendan Thoms had been fighting deportation after their visas were cancelled in 2018 following criminal convictions and serving jail time.
Neither man holds Australian citizenship. They each moved to Australia as children and lived here on permanent resident visas. Both men have one Australian parent and identify as Indigenous. Mr Thoms is a native title holder.
Last year the barrister for the two men,Stephen Keim,SC,invoked the case of Mabo – which acknowledged the history of Indigenous dispossession.
"To remove Aboriginal Australians from the country would be another,if not worse,case of dispossession,"he said.
The court ruled that as an Aboriginal Australian,Brendan Thoms could not be subjected to the"aliens power"under the constitution.
However,the court was unable to agree as to whether Daniel Love is Aboriginal,casting continued uncertainty over his case.