A British citizen who has lived in Australia for more than 40 years has lost a bid against being deported on character grounds.

Clifford Tucker migrated to Australia as a six-year-old but never became a citizen and at the age of 47, his criminal activities put him at odds with Australia's migration laws.

His family in South Australia has been begging Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to intervene in the case but the minister has rejected their pleas.

Immigration authorities only became aware of Mr Tucker when he applied for a visa to re-enter Australia after a holiday to Bali.

In 2009, he was convicted of assault and the Immigration Minister sought to cancel his visa.

Mr Tucker is now awaiting deportation to Britain at the Villawood detention centre in Sydney.

The family's lawyer, Stephen Kenny, says Mr Tucker's human rights are being breached.

"Clifford Tucker is a person who has really been assimilated into Australia. He is, for intents and purposes, an Australian citizen, but technically he is not a citizen of Australia and is subject to deportation," he said.

"This is really in breach of his human rights. It's a country he grew up in, it's a country which his family all lived in and it's a country he identifies with and has for the last 41 years."

Chequered past

Mr Tucker has a long criminal history but Mr Kenny says he has done his time and he should not be deported.

Court records point to his violent behaviour and a 12-year jail sentence for attempted murder in the 1980s.

Mr Kenny says deporting Mr Tucker means he is being punished twice for his crimes.

He says Mr Tucker's family is afraid he will commit suicide.

"He's really quite struggling. He does have a depressive illness, they are concerned that he may commit suicide if he goes over here," he said.

"He has no support network over there, he is a person who does struggle with alcoholism and all of these things are going to come into play when he's suddenly dumped in a foreign society."

His mother Terry Haighton has set up a Facebook site to support his cause.

She writes, "I am still fighting. But I feel that Clifford has given up. Each day is a nightmare."

It is not the first time an Australian resident has been deported on character grounds.

In 2005, the ABC's Lateline program revealed the case of Robert Jovicic, a long-time resident deported to Serbia on character grounds. He had served jail time for robbery and theft.

Mr Bowen has since granted him permanent residency.

But in Mr Tucker's case, a spokesman for the minister says all non-citizens must meet the character requirements of the Migration Act.

The spokesman says the decision to deport Mr Tucker was upheld by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and backed by the full Federal Court.

Mr Kenny says the Parliament needs to amend its legislation to ensure people who are effectively Australian are not deported.