1814484 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, sought review of a decision concerning a protection visa. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had been validly notified of the Department's decision, and consequently, whether their application for review to the Tribunal was lodged within the statutory timeframe. The matter was heard by Alison Murphy, a Member of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to hear the applicant's review. This question hinged on whether the applicant's application for review was made within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation, which in turn depended on whether the Department had complied with its notification obligations.

The Tribunal found that correspondence from the Department had been sent to the applicant's nominated address. Applying the statutory requirements, the Tribunal determined that notification was deemed to have occurred upon dispatch to that address, irrespective of whether the applicant actually received it. As the application for review was received by the Tribunal on 18 May 2018, which was outside the required timeframe following the deemed notification, the Tribunal concluded it lacked jurisdiction.

Consequently, the Tribunal made no substantive determination on the merits of the protection visa application, as it lacked the jurisdiction to do so.