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

This matter concerned an application by Ms Kaur for review of the Minister's delegate's decision to refuse her Australian citizenship by conferral on the grounds that she was not of good character. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was required to determine whether to dismiss Ms Kaur's review application due to her persistent failure to comply with Tribunal directions and to proceed with her application.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether it had the power to dismiss Ms Kaur's application under subsection 42A(2) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) for failing to appear at a hearing, or under subsection 42A(5) of the Act for failing to proceed with her application or comply with Tribunal directions within a reasonable time. The Tribunal also considered the adequacy of the medical certificates provided by Ms Kaur in support of her requests for adjournments and her inability to attend hearings.

The Tribunal reasoned that Ms Kaur had repeatedly failed to comply with directions issued by the Tribunal, including failing to file materials by stipulated deadlines and failing to appear at a case conference and the substantive hearing. Despite being put on notice on multiple occasions that her application was liable to be dismissed, Ms Kaur continued to fail to meet the Tribunal's requirements. The Tribunal found that the medical certificate provided for the final hearing did not establish that Ms Kaur was too ill to appear, particularly given her claim of unemployment and the unclear reference to her "usual occupation." Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it had grounds to dismiss the application under both subsection 42A(2) and 42A(5) of the Act.

The Tribunal ordered that Ms Kaur's application for review of the Minister's decision be dismissed.