1924848 (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to cancel the applicant’s Subclass 010 (Bridging A) visa. The cancellation was based on the ground that the applicant’s presence in Australia posed a risk to the health, safety, or good order of the Australian community, specifically to his wife and son. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether this ground for cancellation was made out and, if so, whether the visa should be cancelled in the exercise of discretion.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's criminal charges for Recklessly Causing Injury and Unlawful Assault, stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident. While the Tribunal was satisfied that the ground for cancellation under section 116(1)(e) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) was made out, it then proceeded to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa. In its assessment, the Tribunal weighed various factors, including the applicant's compliance with visa conditions, the hardship that cancellation might cause to him and his family, and the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident. Crucially, the Tribunal noted that the applicant's wife and son continued to reside with him, expressed no fear of him, and that the Department of Health and Human Services had assessed the child's safety as not being at risk. Furthermore, the applicant had completed a Men's Behaviour Change program.

Having regard to the evidence that the applicant's wife and son continued to live with him as a family unit, expressed no fear of him, and that the welfare of the child had been assessed by relevant authorities, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not represent a risk to their health or safety. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the delegate's decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 010 (Bridging A) visa and substituted a decision not to cancel the visa.