BSB18 v Minister for Home Affairs

The applicant, BSB18, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal had previously dismissed BSB18's application for a show cause notice to be issued, on the basis that BSB18 failed to attend a scheduled hearing. Driver J of the Federal Court of Australia heard the matter.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal had erred in law by dismissing BSB18's application for a show cause notice without providing an opportunity for BSB18 to explain their absence from the hearing. This involved considering the procedural fairness obligations owed by the Tribunal to an applicant.

Driver J found that the Tribunal had indeed committed a jurisdictional error. The Court reasoned that a failure to attend a hearing, while a significant matter, did not automatically disentitle an applicant to natural justice. The Tribunal was required, as a matter of procedural fairness, to afford BSB18 an opportunity to present reasons for their non-attendance before making a decision to dismiss the application. The Court held that the Tribunal's failure to do so constituted an error of law.

The Court made orders setting aside the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and remitting the matter to the Tribunal to be heard and determined according to law.