COW17 v Minister for Immigration and Anor

The applicant, COW17, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to affirm the refusal of a protection (class XA) visa. The dispute arose after the applicant failed to attend a hearing before the AAT, which proceeded to make a decision in their absence. The applicant had notified the Department of Immigration and Border Protection of a change of address but had not informed the AAT, leading to the hearing notice being sent to their previous address.

The primary legal issues before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia were whether the AAT acted unreasonably in proceeding to decide the application without making further attempts to contact the applicant, and whether the AAT had afforded the applicant procedural fairness. Specifically, the court considered whether the AAT's request for documents from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, without notifying the applicant or copying the correspondence to them, constituted ostensible bias and a failure of procedural fairness.

Justice Mercuri found that the AAT was not legally unreasonable in proceeding with the hearing and decision in the applicant's absence, given the applicant's failure to notify the Tribunal of their change of address. The court held that the applicant bore the responsibility for ensuring the AAT had their correct contact details. Furthermore, the court determined that the AAT's request for documents from the Department did not amount to ostensible bias or a breach of procedural fairness, as it was a standard procedural step in the review process and did not prejudice the applicant.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.