1914524 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of China, sought a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) dismissed the applicant's application for review due to their failure to appear at the scheduled hearing. The applicant did not subsequently apply for reinstatement of the application within the prescribed 14-day period.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of the application, given the applicant's failure to seek reinstatement after the initial dismissal for non-appearance.

The Tribunal applied the relevant procedural rules, which stipulated that if an applicant fails to apply for reinstatement within 14 days of a dismissal for non-appearance, the Tribunal must confirm the dismissal. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the decision under review, which was the dismissal of the application, was taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal confirmed its decision to dismiss the application.