Fabillar v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

The applicant, Fabillar, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which had affirmed the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs' refusal of a visa. The central dispute concerned whether the notice of refusal had been validly served on the applicant, as the notice was sent to an incorrect postal address.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had erred in finding that the notice of refusal had been duly given to the applicant. This involved determining whether the delegate who sent the notice had made a jurisdictional error by failing to make an obvious inquiry regarding the applicant's correct postal address, thereby depriving the applicant of the opportunity to seek a merits review of the visa refusal.

Justice Egan found that the delegate had indeed committed a jurisdictional error. The Court reasoned that the delegate was aware of a discrepancy in the address provided and failed to make a simple and obvious inquiry to ascertain the correct postal address. This failure meant that the notice of refusal was not effectively given to the applicant, and consequently, the AAT's finding that the notice had been duly given was erroneous.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be quashed.