Kristensen and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by Mr Kristensen to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his visa. The dispute before the court involved the assessment of whether there was "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation decision, considering Mr Kristensen's past offending, his risk of recidivism, and the impact of his potential deportation on his children. The decision was made by N A Manetta SM.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine if there were sufficient grounds to revoke the mandatory cancellation of Mr Kristensen's visa. This required a balancing exercise, weighing the seriousness of his past offending, which included sexual offending when he was a young adult and serious drug offending, against factors that might favour revocation. These mitigating factors included his low assessed risk of recidivism, the significant psychological impact his deportation would have on his children, and his expressed desire to contribute to their upbringing.

The court reasoned that while the sexual and drug offending were serious matters, they occurred at different stages of Mr Kristensen's life and his drug habit was no longer present. The court placed considerable weight on the potential harm to his daughters, noting that their healthy psychological development would be negatively impacted by his absence. The court accepted evidence that the children's mothers supported Mr Kristensen's continued involvement in their lives and that the risk of him reoffending was low. Consequently, the court found that these factors constituted "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation.

The court ordered that the decision under review be set aside and substituted with a decision that the cancellation of Mr Kristensen's visa be revoked.