Dwe16 v Minister for Immigration

This case concerned an application for judicial review brought by the applicant, a national of Malaysia, against the Minister for Immigration. The applicant arrived in Australia in May 2013 and subsequently lodged an application for a protection visa in December 2014. She claimed to fear harm in Malaysia due to her Chinese ethnicity, Christian religion, police corruption, and a lack of confidence in the Malaysian government. The delegate refused her visa application, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) affirmed this decision.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Tribunal had erred in law in affirming the delegate's decision to refuse the protection visa. Specifically, the court was required to consider whether the Tribunal had properly assessed the applicant's claims of fear of harm based on her ethnicity, religion, political engagement, and experiences with police corruption, and whether it had correctly applied the legal standard of a "real chance of suffering serious harm."

The Tribunal's reasoning, as summarised, indicated that while it accepted some level of discrimination against ethnic Chinese Malaysians, it was not satisfied that this discrimination would result in serious harm. Similarly, regarding her religious beliefs, the Tribunal found that Malaysian Christians were generally able to practice their religion and that the applicant did not materially claim to fear harm on this basis. The Tribunal also found the applicant's political engagement to be limited and unlikely to lead to serious harm. Concerning the alleged police corruption, the Tribunal accepted that instances of corruption might occur but concluded they did not give rise to a real chance of serious harm. The Tribunal ultimately found that the applicant did not have a well-founded fear of persecution or a real risk of suffering serious harm upon return to Malaysia.