1819185 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision concerning their application for a protection visa. The dispute centred on whether the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had jurisdiction to hear the application, given that it was lodged out of time. The decision was made by Member Roslyn Smidt of the AAT.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been made in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the lodgement of the application outside the prescribed timeframe deprived it of jurisdiction to consider the merits of the case.

Member Smidt reasoned that the application for review was received by the Tribunal on 2 July 2018. As this date fell outside the period permitted by the relevant legislation for lodging such an application, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked the necessary jurisdiction to proceed. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that it did not have jurisdiction in the matter.