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

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to refuse an Australian citizenship application. The applicant, a Nigerian citizen and permanent resident of Australia since 2015, had been convicted in March 2018 of indecent behaviour, for which he received a good behaviour bond and an intervention order. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was tasked with determining whether the applicant was a person of good character for the purposes of his citizenship application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had demonstrated "good character" as required by the relevant policy, particularly in light of his prior conviction. This required the Tribunal to assess whether the applicant's character had changed since his conviction and whether he possessed enduring moral qualities, including distinguishing right from wrong and behaving ethically in accordance with Australian societal values.

The Tribunal reasoned that immediately following his conviction, the applicant would unequivocally not have been considered a person of good character. The central question then became whether, since that date, the applicant had demonstrated sufficient good character to satisfy the Tribunal. Applying the policy's criteria for "enduring moral qualities," the Tribunal found that the applicant had failed to demonstrate characteristics of good character over a long period, given his relatively short residency in Australia and the recent conviction. Furthermore, the Tribunal raised concerns about the applicant's capacity to distinguish right from wrong and to conform to Australian societal rules and values. The Tribunal also noted that the applicant continued to attribute his offending to cultural issues and miscommunication due to language barriers, assertions the Tribunal found unsustainable.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant was a person of good character. The application for review was affirmed, meaning the original decision to refuse citizenship stood.