2412731 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision concerning a protection visa application made in relation to Vietnam. The respondent was the Department of Home Affairs. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear the applicant's review application.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether a reviewable decision had been made at the time the applicant lodged their application for review. This question of jurisdiction was determinative of whether the Tribunal could proceed to consider the merits of the protection visa application.

The Tribunal reasoned that for it to have jurisdiction to review a decision, a relevant decision must have been made and notified to the applicant. In this instance, the primary decision on the protection visa application was still pending at the time the review application was lodged. Consequently, there was no reviewable decision in existence upon which the Tribunal could exercise its jurisdiction. The Tribunal applied the principle that jurisdiction is contingent upon the existence of a valid decision to review.

Accordingly, the Tribunal concluded that it did not have jurisdiction in this matter.