Chris Brown could be banned from Australia due to 2009 conviction for assaulting Rihanna

Australian minister, Michaelia Cash said Brown may not be permitted to enter the country to tour in December

An Australian government minister has signalled that Chris Brown may not be allowed to tour the country, due to his conviction for assaulting ex-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.

Michaelia Cash, Minister for Women – who up until this week was the assistant Minister for Immigration and Border protection, said she would share her “strong recommendations” with the new Minister, Peter Dutton.

Ms Cash said: “My strong recommendation would be: If you are going to commit domestic violence and then you want to travel the world, there are going to be countries that say to you: ‘You cannot come in because you are not of the character that we expect in Australia.’”

Ms Cash added that Mr Dutton is currently looking at the matter, although she cannot “pre-empt” the decision he will make.

Brown, 25, had planned to perform in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in December.

An online petition was launched by the activist group GetUP! to bar Brown entering the country. As of yet the petition has reached around 12,000 signatures.

In 2010, the UK Home Office refused permission for Brown to enter the UK on the grounds of being “guilty of a serious criminal offence”. Brown has also reportedly been barred from performing in New Zealand, due to the previous rejection by Britain.

The remarks came at a press conference to launch a new $100m domestic violence prevention scheme by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

Earlier this month, a leading Sex Discrimination Commissioner said domestic violence in Australia was of “epidemic proportions”, with estimates that police deal with a domestic violence case every two minutes.

Brown pleaded guilty to the assault on Rihanna, hours before the Grammy awards, in 2009. He was sentenced to one year of domestic violence counselling,180 days of community service and five years of probation - which he was freed from earlier this year.

In July, Brown was held at an airport in the Philippines and barred from leaving the country, following a contract dispute.

A representative for Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.