1800257 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision made by the delegate of the Minister regarding a protection visa application. The dispute concerned whether the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision, given that a previous review application concerning the same decision had already been determined by the Tribunal. The matter came before Member Brendan Darcy of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it retained jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision when that decision had previously been the subject of a valid review by the Tribunal. This question turned on the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) concerning the finality of reviewable decisions and the Tribunal's jurisdiction.

Member Darcy reasoned that once a decision has been the subject of a valid review by the Tribunal, it ceases to be a "reviewable decision" for the purposes of further applications to the Tribunal. The principle applied is that the Tribunal's jurisdiction is generally limited to reviewing decisions that have not already undergone a full merits review. Consequently, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain a further review of the delegate's decision.

Accordingly, the Tribunal made no order other than to state that it did not have jurisdiction in this matter.