AVB16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

AVB16 has appealed to the Federal Court against a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which affirmed a decision of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to refuse to grant her a visa. The appellant claimed that she would suffer serious harm if returned to China due to a data breach in which her personal information was disclosed. The appellant submitted that the breach would adversely affect her ability to find work and travel. The AAT found that the appellant did not have a history of activism that would make her of interest to the Chinese government. The appellant did not accept the AAT's findings and argued that the AAT had not properly assessed the risk of serious harm to her in China due to the data breach.
The court was required to determine whether the AAT had fallen into jurisdictional error in its assessment of the appellant's claims. The court examined the AAT's decision to determine if it was open to the AAT to conclude that the appellant would not suffer serious harm in China due to the data breach. The court found that the AAT had not erred in its assessment of the appellant's claims and that the AAT's conclusion was open to it on the material before it. The court dismissed the appeal and ordered that the appellant pay the first respondent's costs as agreed or taxed.