2007760 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision concerning a protection visa for an applicant from China. The applicant failed to appear at the hearing of their application for review.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of the application for review, given the applicant's non-appearance and subsequent failure to apply for reinstatement within the prescribed timeframe.

The Tribunal reasoned that under its procedural rules, where an applicant fails to appear at a hearing and does not apply for reinstatement within 14 days of the dismissal, the Tribunal must confirm the decision to dismiss the application. This confirmation means that the original decision under review is taken to be affirmed. The Tribunal therefore confirmed its decision to dismiss the application for review.