Aburumman and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral by Mr Aburumman, a Jordanian citizen. The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs had refused the application on the grounds that Mr Aburumman was not a person of good character, as required by paragraph 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Aburumman met this good character requirement.

The Tribunal was tasked with assessing Mr Aburumman's character in light of his conviction for common assault (domestic violence) in January 2020, for which he received a conditional release order without conviction. The assessment was to be guided by Citizenship Policy Instruction 15, which mandates a holistic consideration of various factors, including the nature and seriousness of any offending, the time elapsed since the offending, remorse, rehabilitation, family life, and employment. The policy explicitly states that these principles should not be applied rigidly but with regard to the specific facts of each case.

The Tribunal found that while the common assault offence was serious, the court's decision to impose a conditional release order without conviction suggested it was at the lower end of seriousness. It noted that this was a single offence, and Mr Aburumman had complied with the order. The Tribunal accepted that the incident, which involved an argument with his brother, was out of character for both parties, not premeditated, and occurred during a period of high emotional stress. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered evidence of Mr Aburumman's positive character traits, including his role as an engaged husband and father, his community involvement, his successful business partnership, and his sincere remorse for the incident. The Tribunal concluded that Mr Aburumman met the good character requirement.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the Minister's decision and remitted the matter for reconsideration, directing that Mr Aburumman satisfies the good character requirement under paragraph 21(2)(h) of the Act.