Hussaini and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This case concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral, which was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The delegate was not satisfied of the applicant's identity and also found that the applicant was not of good character. The applicant, who claimed to be a citizen of Afghanistan, presented conflicting primary documentation, leading to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal also not being satisfied of his identity. The matter came before Deputy President Boyle of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements for the conferral of Australian citizenship, specifically concerning his identity and good character. Section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) mandates that the Minister must not approve a person becoming an Australian citizen unless satisfied of their identity. The Tribunal was required to determine if the evidence presented by the applicant sufficiently established his identity and if his conduct demonstrated good character, as required by the Act.

Deputy President Boyle reasoned that the onus was on the applicant to provide information and evidence to support his identity, and this identity needed to be verified incrementally from birth to the present. The Tribunal found significant inconsistencies in the applicant's provided documentation and his oral evidence regarding his identity, including conflicting accounts of how he obtained his Afghan passport, his date and place of birth, and his family composition. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had provided a copy of only one page of his Afghan passport, which lacked biometric data, and that his explanations for the discrepancies and the whereabouts of his documents were not credible. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered the applicant's conviction for using a mobile phone while driving as a factor weighing against a finding of good character, alongside the provision of false or misleading information in his application. Ultimately, the Tribunal was not satisfied of the applicant's identity, and therefore, the prohibition under section 24(3) of the Act applied.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision of the delegate of the Minister to refuse to approve the applicant becoming an Australian citizen.