1821422 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse the applicant, a woman from Sierra Leone, a protection visa. The applicant sought protection on the grounds of persecution as a lesbian in her home country, alleging physical assault and the violent death of her partner. The delegate had refused the visa, not being satisfied that the applicant was a lesbian or had suffered harm due to her sexual orientation.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 65 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This involved assessing whether she was a "refugee" as defined by the Act, which incorporates concepts from Australia's obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. The applicant bore the responsibility to specify and provide sufficient evidence to establish her claim.

The Tribunal considered evidence submitted to the Department and new evidence presented to the Tribunal, including statutory declarations, photographs of injuries and her late partner, letters of support from family and community members, a psychologist's report, and evidence of her participation in LGBTQIA+ events in Australia. The Tribunal's findings and reasoning, which led to the remittal of the decision, are detailed in the full judgment.