BQJ18 v Minister for Home Affairs

BQJ18 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision made by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) concerning an application for a Safe Haven Enterprise visa. The applicant contended that the IAA had committed a jurisdictional error in its assessment of the visa application.

The central legal issue before the Federal Court was whether the IAA had erred in law by failing to consider "new information" that had been provided by the applicant, as required by section 473DD of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This section mandates that the IAA must consider any new information provided by the applicant when reviewing a decision.

Justice Humphreys found that the IAA had indeed failed to consider the new information presented by the applicant. The Court reasoned that the IAA's obligation under s 473DD was not merely to acknowledge the existence of new information, but to genuinely engage with and assess its relevance and impact on the applicant's case. By failing to do so, the IAA had acted outside its jurisdictional powers, thereby committing a jurisdictional error.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Immigration Assessment Authority be quashed.