HJPB and Minister for Home Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by HJPB, a woman born in Iran who claimed to be stateless. The applicant arrived in Australia as an irregular maritime arrival in 2010 and was subsequently granted a protection visa. Her application for citizenship was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs on the grounds that the delegate was not satisfied as to her identity, and therefore the prohibition in s 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth) applied. HJPB sought review of this decision before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was satisfied as to HJPB's identity, given her claim of statelessness and lack of documentary evidence from her country of origin. The Tribunal was also invited to consider HJPB's character, although this had not been assessed by the delegate. The applicant argued that the delegate's decision was contrary to recent AAT decisions regarding the proof required to establish identity, particularly for individuals from disrupted societies who may not have access to standard identification documents.

The Tribunal considered the principle that identity need not be established solely by documents appropriate to an established society, referencing *Dhayakpa and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection* [2015] AATA 310. However, it also noted that an application may be rejected if an applicant has failed to avail themselves of reasonably available opportunities to secure evidence of identity. While acknowledging the applicant's Australian identity documents, the Tribunal found that there remained insufficient evidence to satisfy it of HJPB's identity prior to her arrival in Australia, as no official documentary evidence from her country of origin had been provided, nor had she explained the avenues she had pursued to obtain such documentation. Regarding character, the Tribunal determined that this issue was best addressed by the Department and that insufficient material was before the Tribunal to conduct such an assessment at that time.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse HJPB's application for Australian citizenship by conferral.