A woman named Kathryn Brewin, who is living in Western Sydney, Australia, is someone who does not have a nationality.
The 59-year-old’s parents left the United Kingdom when she was just four years old in order to move to Australia in search of a better life, just like millions of other ten-pound poms did.
“My father was an engineer, so we all flew out. We arrived here in June of 1969… I’ve been here ever since. I’ve never left Australia,” she said. “When you’ve been here that long you don’t think you’re anything but Australian.”
Since then, Brewin has put in a lot of work, paid taxes, obtained a driver’s licence, and voted in elections. However, she has never had an Australian citizenship or a passport.
She has spent 21 years at Campbelltown Hospital working as a cleaner and has never had an issue with it.
One day, she gained an opportunity to fulfil her dream of cooking, and serving workers at Sydney’s Botany Docks Canteen. The only drawback is that Brewin must be an Australian citizen in order to operate the canteen, for which she requires a maritime security licence.
Brewin was informed that she needed a passport at the time of her citizenship application. However, she is also ineligible for one of those, as she counts as a permanent resident.
“I wanted to go and do this and see if I could pursue my dream of serving and cooking good food and do what I love,” Brewin said. “Cleaning is a hard game, especially in a hospital.”
She has spent hours contacting the UK embassy, her local MP, the national archives, and Home Affairs, but she has been informed that no one can assist.
The Department of Home Affairs said in a statement to A Current Affair that ‘it is unable to provide Kathryn with an easy fix to her problem or comment on cases in particular’.
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