Kim v Minister for Home Affairs

In the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Barnes considered an application by Kim (whose name was subsequently amended to Haram Kim) seeking review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs. The dispute concerned the delegate's refusal to provide the applicant with evidence of Australian citizenship, a decision the applicant challenged on grounds of administrative error.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the delegate had asked the wrong question or misapplied the relevant law in assessing the applicant's claim to citizenship. Specifically, the Court was required to determine whether the applicant had been ordinarily resident in Australia throughout the ten years following his birth, as stipulated by the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth), taking into account any absences from Australia.

Justice Barnes reasoned that the applicant had not established that he was ordinarily resident in Australia for the requisite ten-year period. The Court applied the principles governing the determination of ordinary residence under the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth), which requires a factual assessment of the applicant's habitual place of abode. Having found that the applicant failed to meet this criterion, the Court concluded that the delegate's decision was not vitiated by error.

Consequently, the Court ordered that the applicant's name be amended to Haram Kim and dismissed the application.