Erm18 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services & Multicultural Affairs

The applicant, Erm18, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA). The dispute concerned whether the IAA had committed jurisdictional error by failing to take into account relevant information when reviewing the applicant's case. The matter came before Kendall J of the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the IAA had erred in law by making a decision without considering relevant information, as alleged in Ground 1 of the applicant's submissions. This ground was further particularised by the Court into two potential arguments: first, that the IAA failed to have regard to information not referred to it by the delegate (Ground 1A), and second, that the IAA erred in its assessment of "new information" provided by the applicant (Ground 1B).

Kendall J considered Ground 1A, which related to the Secretary's obligation under s 473CB(1) of the Act to provide the IAA with "review material". This material includes documents provided by the applicant to the delegate before the decision was made. The Court found that the Secretary had failed to provide the IAA with several documents, including a copy of the applicant's passport, a letter from his school, his examination results, and an internet report. These documents were provided by the applicant to the delegate and therefore constituted material that should have been provided to the IAA pursuant to s 473CB(1)(b) of the Act. The Court held that this failure constituted a breach of s 473CB(1), following the principles established in *EVS17 v Minister for Immigration & Border Protection*.