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 delays in deciding revocation requests undermines the Department's policy of giving primary consideration to the best interests of those who have young children and/or experience prolonged family separation."
The Ombudsman calls for standard processing time frames, 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about some people being held in immigration detention for long periods of time, even after criminal charges were withdrawn or the accused was acquitted, fined or given a good behaviour bond.
"To suddenly deny a person their liberty to live freely in the community based on nothing more than an allegation that has led to the laying of criminal charges, raises the question of whether the department is acting prematurely by cancelling a visa and whether the department is not following the spirit of the explanatory statement that introduced this legislation. The ongoing detention of many individuals in this cohort is inappropriate and has negatively impacted upon their mental health."
The Ombudsman calls on the Immigration Department to give people adequate time and resources to seek legal advice and mount their defence if they face a visa cancellation.
Lawyer Greg Barns believes it is a cruel policy that has been applied indiscriminately, and says some of the people deported have only had minor criminal convictions.
"You're getting fathers who are being removed from their kids, shunted across to Christmas Island and then sent back to New Zealand. There are cases where entire families have had to move back because the health of the person who's had their visa revoked is so bad. It's a cruel policy, it's a policy that's been rightly opposed by the New Zealand Labor party and the Greens in New Zealand."
He says there are several cases where elderly people have been left without their primary carers after their children were deported.
"I know of a number of examples of individuals who were carers for their parents who've been sent back to New Zealand and the parents now are devastated, they're having to find new carers. It's the sort of cruelty that we've come to expect from the Department of Immigration and various ministers on both sides of politics over the past 10 years and I can say that in New Zealand there's a great deal of shock particularly in the New Zealand media about the way in which the Australian government has dealt with this policy."
The federal government has defended strengthening deportation measures, saying it makes no apology for what it says is further protecting the Australian community.
