2110365 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application by a citizen of China for review of a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs' decision to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant had previously applied for and been refused a protection visa, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had affirmed that refusal. The applicant subsequently lodged a further application with the Tribunal, seeking a review of the AAT's previous decision. The Tribunal invited the applicant to comment on the validity of this second review application, given that the Tribunal generally has no power to review its own decisions. The applicant did not respond.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision for a second time. The Tribunal was required to determine if a decision previously reviewed by it remained a "Tribunal-reviewable decision" under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The Tribunal reasoned that its power to review is limited to specific "Part-5 or Part-7 reviewable decisions" under the Act. It held that a decision of the Tribunal itself is not a reviewable decision. Citing established case law, the Tribunal stated that once it has conducted a valid review of a delegate's decision, that decision is no longer subject to further review by the Tribunal. Consequently, the Tribunal found it had no jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision for a second time, as it had already been the subject of a valid review.

The Tribunal concluded that it did not have jurisdiction in this matter.