1927272 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a protection visa made by an individual who had departed Australia. The Tribunal, constituted by Member Luke Hardy, was tasked with determining whether the applicant met the criteria for the grant of a protection visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the criterion that they must be a non-citizen in Australia at the time of the decision, as stipulated by section 36(2) of the relevant Act. The Tribunal also considered whether it was necessary to assess the applicant's substantive claims for protection given the preliminary issue.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the jurisdictional requirement of the applicant being physically present in Australia. Movement records indicated that the applicant had left Australia in March 2020. The Tribunal notified the applicant of this information and invited comment, but no response was received. Consequently, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant was not in Australia and therefore did not meet the criterion under section 36(2). As this criterion was not met, the Tribunal concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the applicant's substantive claims for protection.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa.