GPO18 v Minister for Home Affairs

In GPO18 v Minister for Home Affairs, the applicant, a non-citizen who had been granted a visa in Australia, sought judicial review of the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to refuse her application to revoke a mandatory cancellation of her visa. The Minister for Home Affairs had originally cancelled the applicant's visa under section 501CA(4) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) due to her failure to meet the character test. The applicant argued that the AAT erred in its consideration of her application to revoke the cancellation. The primary issue before the court was whether the AAT made an error of law in its consideration of the applicant's application to revoke the mandatory cancellation of her visa. This included determining whether the AAT took into account irrelevant considerations, such as the applicant's "gullibility," and whether it denied her procedural fairness by not adequately considering her submissions.

The court found that the AAT erred in affirming the delegate's decision. The AAT had not adequately considered the applicant's submissions and had taken into account irrelevant considerations, such as her "gullibility." The court held that these errors constituted a failure to observe procedural fairness and amounted to a jurisdictional error. The court quashed the decision of the AAT and remitted the matter for reconsideration. The court ordered that the Minister for Home Affairs pay the applicant's costs.