Arm18 v Minister for Home Affairs

The applicant, Arm18, sought a remedy under s 476 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) in relation to a decision made by the Immigration Assessment Authority (the Authority). The Authority had affirmed a delegate's decision not to grant the applicant a Safe Haven Enterprise visa. The central dispute concerned whether the Authority had relied on information that was not properly considered "review material" or "new information" under the Act, and whether this reliance was material to its decision.

The court was required to determine two primary legal issues. First, whether the Authority acted beyond its power by considering the applicant's statutory declaration of 17 August 2013 (the 2013 Statement). This involved assessing whether the Authority failed to confine its consideration to the review material provided under s 473CB(1) of the Act, as required by s 473DB(1). Second, the court had to consider whether the Authority had properly turned its mind to the test imposed by s 473DD(a) before considering the 2013 Statement as "new information" under s 473DC(1), or complied with the requirements of s 473DE in respect of it. Alternatively, the court had to determine if the 2013 Statement was neither review material nor new information.

The court reasoned that the 2013 Statement was not included with the initial review material provided to the Authority. While the Authority later requested and received the statement, the Secretary initially declined to provide it, deeming it irrelevant. The court found that the Authority erroneously concluded the 2013 Statement was not new information, despite the circumstances surrounding its submission and the Secretary's initial refusal. Crucially, the court determined that the Authority's reliance on the 2013 Statement was not material to its decision to affirm the delegate's refusal of the visa. Therefore, no jurisdictional error occurred.