Australia's government is confident it has grounds to strip an alleged Islamic State recruiter of citizenship, a minister said on Wednesday, as questions arose over whether doing so could be illegal and leave the man stateless.

The case highlights the problems many governments face as they consider what action to take against people who have traveled abroad, often to the Middle East, to join militant groups.

Under Australian law, a person can only be stripped of their citizenship if they are dual citizens, thereby preventing people from being made stateless.