EOT17 v Immigration Assessment Authority

The applicant, EOT17, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) to affirm the refusal of a protection visa. The dispute concerned the IAA's conduct of the review process under the fast track assessment provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Federal Court was whether the IAA had breached its duty to afford EOT17 procedural fairness, specifically in relation to the IAA's consideration of new information provided by the applicant after the initial assessment period had closed. The court was asked to determine if the IAA was obliged to consider this information, and if its failure to do so constituted a reviewable error.

Justice Jarrett found that the IAA's obligations under the *Migration Act* and the principles of procedural fairness required it to consider all relevant information before making a decision, even if that information was provided after the usual timeframe for submissions. The court reasoned that the IAA's statutory duty to conduct a review was not confined by the applicant's initial submissions, and that a failure to consider material that might affect the outcome of the review could lead to a jurisdictional error. The IAA's decision was therefore set aside.