EOW18 v Minister for Home Affairs

The applicant, EOW18, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) concerning their application for a Safe Haven Enterprise (Class XE) (Subclass 790) visa. The core of the dispute concerned the IAA's assessment of the applicant's claims and the information it considered in reaching its decision. The matter came before Judge Kendall of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the IAA was under a legal obligation to put certain information to the applicant for comment before making its decision, whether the IAA erred in its consideration of country information relevant to the applicant's case, and whether the IAA's findings were so illogical as to constitute jurisdictional error.

Judge Kendall found that the IAA was not required to put the information in question to the applicant for comment, as the information did not introduce new adverse material that was not already before the IAA or that the applicant had not had an opportunity to address. The court also determined that the IAA had adequately considered the country information and that its findings were not illogical. Consequently, the court concluded that no jurisdictional error had occurred.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.