2310899 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by a child born in Australia to Ethiopian parents. The applicant's mother had previously applied for a protection visa, which was refused by the Department but subsequently remitted by the Tribunal with a direction that she satisfied the criteria for being a refugee under s 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The applicant was not included in her mother's original application or review as she was born after the department's refusal and before the Tribunal's decision. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant was a person to whom Australia owed protection obligations.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant qualified for a protection visa as a member of the same family unit as her mother, who had been found to be a refugee. This involved considering the definition of "family unit" under the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth) and the provisions of s 36(2)(b)(i) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which allows for the grant of a protection visa to a non-citizen who is a member of the same family unit as a person who holds a protection visa and is a refugee.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant, having been born in Australia to the applicant's mother, was a dependent child and therefore a member of the same family unit as her mother, as defined by r 1.12(4)(b)(i) of the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth). Given that the applicant's mother had been found to be a refugee under s 36(2)(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant met the criteria under s 36(2)(b)(i) of the Act. The Tribunal noted that the identity of the applicant and her relationship to her mother were not in dispute.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfies s 36(2)(b)(i) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).