Farmer v Minister for Home Affairs & Anor

The applicant, Mr. Farmer, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse to grant him a visa. The dispute concerned the Minister's assessment of Mr. Farmer's character, specifically in relation to the 'substantial criminal record' exclusion criterion under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The matter was heard by the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Minister, in assessing whether Mr. Farmer had a 'substantial criminal record' for the purposes of the *Migration Act*, was required to consider the applicant's actual sentence or the statutory definition of a 'substantial criminal record' as defined in the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth). This involved an interpretation of the interplay between the Act and the Regulations.

The High Court held that the Minister was bound to apply the definition of a 'substantial criminal record' as set out in the *Migration Regulations*. Gageler CJ, Gordon, Edelman, Steward, Gleeson, Jagot and Beech-Jones JJ jointly reasoned that the Regulations provided a specific, operative definition that the Minister was obliged to follow. The Court found that the Minister had erred by failing to apply this definition and instead had considered the applicant's actual sentence, which was not the correct legal test. The Court concluded that the Minister's decision was affected by an error of law.

The High Court made orders quashing the decision of the Minister and remitting the matter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for redetermination according to law.