FPT17 v Minister for Home Affairs

In the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Judge Manousaridis considered the application of FPT17 for a protection visa. FPT17, a national of Vietnam, sought protection on the basis of claims of past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution due to their membership of a particular social group. The Minister for Home Affairs opposed the grant of the visa.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether FPT17's claimed membership of a particular social group, as defined under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and international refugee law, was established. This required the Court to determine if the group was cognisable, whether it possessed an immutable characteristic or a characteristic that could not be changed, and whether it was defined by a common characteristic that united its members. The Court also had to assess whether FPT17 had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of that group.

Judge Manousaridis reasoned that for a group to be considered a "particular social group," it must be capable of being identified by a shared characteristic that is either inherent or fundamental to the identity of its members, or so significant that members of the group should not be required to change it. The Court found that FPT17 had not adduced sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the group they claimed to belong to met this threshold. Consequently, the Court concluded that FPT17 had not established that they were a member of a particular social group for the purposes of the Migration Act.

The application for the protection visa was therefore dismissed.