The Australian government has authorized an Australian woman linked to the Islamic State group to return to Australia from Syria. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke stated the government was advised it could no longer refuse a return permit to the woman.

"We received the final advice yesterday that we can no longer have an exclusion condition any longer for her," Burke said. He added, "The temporary exclusion order applies until a [return] permit is issued. And when a permit is requested, a permit lawfully has to be issued." The minister noted he worked with his department, agencies, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), and lawyers to determine conditions for the permit.

Burke said strict monitoring will apply upon the woman's arrival. "There will be a very high level of scrutiny and surveillance. That's the absolute legal limit we've been able to go to and our agencies are ready," he said. The permit conditions require the woman to give 24 hours notice before using a communications device, such as a mobile phone or a public pay phone. She will be monitored at home and whenever she is in the community, and must report to authorities regularly.

The original block on the woman's return was issued after advice from Asio. She is the last of a group of Australian women and children seeking to return from a refugee camp in northern Syria. The women and children traveled to the Middle East with husbands and fathers who were fighting with the Islamic State group. They spent more than a decade in the region, first under Islamic State rule and then in detention camps. Some of the children in the group were born in the camp and have never lived in Australia. Members of the group who have already returned to Australia have faced criminal charges, including alleged enslavement, joining a prescribed terror group, and crimes against humanity.