1713418 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision concerning a protection visa. The applicant sought to challenge a decision made in relation to their claim for protection, which originated from Taiwan.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been lodged within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation. This involved determining the date on which the applicant was taken to have been notified of the original decision and, consequently, the expiry date of the period within which a review application could be validly made.

The Tribunal found that, pursuant to section 494C of the Act, the applicant was taken to have been notified of the decision on 13 February 2017. This established that the prescribed period for lodging an application for review expired on 13 March 2017. The Tribunal noted that while 13 March 2017 was a Sunday, the provisions of the *Acts Interpretation Act 1901* (Cth) would extend the time to the next business day if the final day fell on a weekend or public holiday. However, the application for review was not received by the Tribunal until 23 June 2017, which was significantly outside the permissible timeframe.

Consequently, the Tribunal determined that the application for review was not made in accordance with the relevant legislation, and therefore, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the matter.