Ater and Minister for Home Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse the Applicant's application for Australian citizenship by conferral. The refusal was based on the delegate's dissatisfaction with the Applicant's identity, as required by section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The Applicant had arrived in Australia in 2007 under the name Moses Makuei Athontung and later changed his name to Makuei Madol Ater in 2014.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it could be satisfied as to the Applicant's identity, given the limited primary documentation provided. The Applicant had submitted an Australian Change of Name Certificate, an Australian driver's licence in his current name, and a Document for Travel to Australia issued in 2007 under a different name, which also identified a child. The Department had requested further documentation, including a birth certificate, Medicare or Centrelink card, proof of residential address, and specific forms, but the Applicant failed to provide all of these within the allotted time.

The Tribunal considered the Applicant's explanation that he was born in South Sudan during a civil war, where birth certificates were not issued, and that his parents were illiterate. While acknowledging the difficulties in obtaining documentation from his country of origin, the Tribunal noted that country information reports indicated processes for obtaining identity documents and that South Sudan had begun issuing certificates of nationality. The Tribunal found that while some weight could be given to the Document for Travel, the Applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to satisfy the requirement of reasonable satisfaction as to his identity, particularly in light of the requests for further documentation that remained unfulfilled.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the application for Australian citizenship by conferral.