2307507 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant, who was in Thailand, lodged their application for review with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) outside the prescribed time limit. The AAT, constituted by Member David Crawshay, determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the review application due to the out-of-time lodgement.

The primary legal issue before the AAT was whether it had the power to extend the time for lodging a review application in circumstances where the applicant was outside Australia. This involved an interpretation of the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) concerning the time limits for lodging applications and the Tribunal's power to extend those time limits.

The AAT Member reasoned that the *Migration Act* prescribed specific time limits for lodging review applications, and that these time limits were jurisdictional. While the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act* grants the Tribunal a general power to extend time, this power is subject to the specific provisions of the *Migration Act*. The Member found that the *Migration Act* did not confer jurisdiction on the AAT to extend the time for lodging a review application when the applicant was outside Australia, and that the application had therefore been lodged out of time without jurisdiction.

Consequently, the AAT made an order dismissing the application for review.