New Zealand men with criminal convictions deported from Australia and sent home

The ABF said the majority of the men sent home had their visas cancelled. Photo / Australian Border Force

A total of 30 New Zealand men - all with criminal convictions - have been deported from Australia, news.com.au reported.

The men have all been convicted of a range of serious criminal activities, including domestic violence against minors, assault and drug offences, aggravated robbery and stalking and intimidating.

The two charter flights departed on August 25 and 26 from Perth, Sydney and Brisbane.

Australian Border Force Commander Field Operations Ben Biddington said in a statement released to the media non-citizens who did not meet character requirements and had their visas cancelled were not allowed to stay in the country.

"The Australian Government is responsible for protecting the community from the risk of harm arising from foreign nationals who choose to engage in criminal activity. The majority of those removed had their visas cancelled under s501 of the Migration Act," Commander Biddington said.

"Since the rules around mandatory visa cancellation were strengthened in December 2014, a total of 2926 New Zealand citizens have had their visas cancelled under s501 of the Migration Act."

Under the Act, the Australian Home Affairs Minister can cancel a visa if a person is considered to "not be of good character".

A person can fail the character test for a number of reasons, including circumstances where a non-citizen has a substantial criminal record.