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Tribunal: Member A Murphy

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the AAT), satisfied the applicant was a member of the same family unit as a person owed protection by Australia, remitted the decision made by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (the Department) for consideration.

The applicant arrived in Australia by boat in 2012 without documentation and applied for a protection visa later that same year. Her visa application was refused by the then Department of Immigration and Border Protection in 2014 as the delegate was not satisfied she was a person owed protection by Australia. The applicant was unsuccessful in a review of this decision by the AAT and then sought judicial review by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The court remitted the decision back to the AAT, stating that there had been a failure to consider recent developments in the applicant’s circumstances. In reconsidering the case, the AAT reviewed statutory declarations from the applicant that she had entered into a relationship with a person that she met on the boat to Australia in 2012 and they had since had two children together, both born in Australia. She produced a tenancy agreement and utility bills in the couple’s names. The AAT was satisfied that they resided together in a de-facto relationship. In 2017, the applicant’s partner had been granted a Protection visa which was a different class to the visa sought by the applicant.

In deciding to remit the decision back to the Department, the member relied on legal provisions that a person may meet the criteria for the granting of a protection visa if they are a member of the same family unit as a person in respect of whom Australia has protection obligations.

Read the full decision