CDX17 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

The applicant, CDX17, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The dispute concerned the adequacy of the material provided by the Department to the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) for the review of a "fast track reviewable decision" made under Part 7AA of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The matter came before Emmett J of the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the review material provided by the Secretary to the IAA, as mandated by section 473CB of the Act, was sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the natural justice hearing rule, particularly in light of section 473DA which states that Division 3 of Part 7AA is an exhaustive statement of the natural justice hearing rule requirements for IAA reviews. This included determining whether the IAA was required to provide the applicant with all material that was before the Minister when the original decision was made, or if the statutory provisions limited this obligation.

Emmett J considered the provisions of Part 7AA, including sections 473BA, 473BC, 473CA, 473CB, and 473CC. His Honour noted that Part 7AA provides a limited form of review for certain decisions to refuse protection visas. Section 473CB outlines the specific "review material" that the Secretary must provide to the IAA, including a statement of findings of fact, the evidence on which those findings were based, and the reasons for the decision. Crucially, section 473DA(2) explicitly states that nothing in Part 7AA requires the IAA to give a referred applicant any material that was before the Minister when the original decision was made. The Court interpreted this as an exhaustive statement of the natural justice hearing rule for IAA reviews, meaning the statutory requirements under section 473CB were the sole obligations.

The Court found that the applicant's argument that the IAA was required to provide all material before the Minister was contrary to the express wording of section 473DA(2). The Court concluded that the obligations of the Secretary under section 473CB were the extent of the material that needed to be provided for the review. The application for judicial review was dismissed.