DJG18 v Minister for Home Affairs

The applicant, DJG18, sought judicial review of a decision by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) to dismiss their application for a protection visa. The applicant, who had children born in Australia, contended that the IAA had committed jurisdictional error in its assessment of their case.

The central legal issue before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was whether the IAA had failed to consider relevant considerations when assessing the applicant's protection visa application, thereby constituting a jurisdictional error. Specifically, the court was required to determine if the IAA had adequately addressed the circumstances of the applicant's children, who were Australian citizens, in its decision-making process.

Judge Riethmuller found that the IAA had indeed failed to consider a relevant consideration, namely the best interests of the Australian citizen children, in its assessment of the applicant's protection visa application. The court reasoned that while the IAA was not required to conduct a separate best interests assessment as per the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), it was nonetheless obliged to take into account the impact of its decision on these children. The failure to do so amounted to jurisdictional error.

The court ordered that the decision of the Immigration Assessment Authority be set aside and remitted to the IAA for redetermination according to law.