Bilash and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian Citizenship by Conferral by Mr Bilash, which was refused by the delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. Mr Bilash sought a review of this decision before the Tribunal. The central dispute was whether Mr Bilash could be satisfied as being of good character for the purposes of section 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth).

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Bilash met the good character requirement for Australian citizenship. This involved considering the ordinary meaning of "good character" as referring to a person's enduring moral qualities, rather than their community standing, and requiring the Tribunal to be positively persuaded of this fact. The Tribunal was also to have regard to the law and policy in force at the time of its decision, not being constrained to the material before the original decision-maker.

The Tribunal applied the ordinary meaning of "good character" as established in case law, which focuses on a person's enduring moral qualities. It noted that a person's past criminal convictions do not necessarily preclude them from being of good character if they have reformed. However, the Tribunal found that it was not satisfied that Mr Bilash was of good character for the purposes of the Act, leading to the affirmation of the delegate's decision to refuse his citizenship application.