AUS17 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by AUS17 against the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection concerning the refusal of a protection visa. The Immigration Assessment Authority had reviewed the delegate's decision to refuse the visa. The core of the dispute involved the Authority's consideration of new information, specifically a letter of support from a third party that post-dated the delegate's decision.

The central legal issue before the High Court was the proper interpretation of section 473DD of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Specifically, the Court had to determine whether, when assessing "new information" under this section, the Immigration Assessment Authority was required to consider the criteria in subsections 473DD(b)(i) and 473DD(b)(ii) before considering the criterion in subsection 473DD(a). The Authority had treated the letter as "new information" but concluded it could not be considered under s 473DD, and had assessed it against s 473DD(b)(i) and s 473DD(a) but not s 473DD(b)(ii).

The High Court reasoned that section 473DD mandates a sequential consideration of its criteria. It held that the Authority must first assess whether "new information" meets the requirements of s 473DD(b)(i) and s 473DD(b)(ii) before it can proceed to consider that information against the criterion in s 473DD(a). Because the Authority had failed to undertake this sequential assessment, its decision was vitiated. The appeal was allowed, the orders of the Federal Court were set aside, and the appeal to the Federal Court was dismissed with costs.