Lawal and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral by Mr Lawal, who did not meet the general residence requirement. The dispute before the Tribunal was whether the discretion provided by subsection 22(6) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) should be exercised in Mr Lawal's favour to allow him to satisfy the residence criteria.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether Mr Lawal would suffer significant hardship or disadvantage if the discretion under subsection 22(6) of the Act was not exercised. This required the Tribunal to assess whether Mr Lawal's circumstances, including his health, unemployment, and lack of permanent accommodation, were such that denying him citizenship based on his failure to meet the residence requirement would result in significant hardship or disadvantage.

The Tribunal considered Mr Lawal's claims regarding his health, unemployment, and past difficult experiences. It found that while Mr Lawal suffered from leukaemia and mental health conditions, he had access to treatment through the public health system and Medicare, and his health was not at risk due to his citizenship status. The Tribunal also noted that while Mr Lawal had experienced difficulty finding employment, there was no evidence that he had been denied employment solely because he was not an Australian citizen, nor were there any offers of employment contingent on his citizenship. Furthermore, the Tribunal concluded that Mr Lawal's existing hardships were independent of and not related to his citizenship status. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that Mr Lawal would suffer significant hardship or disadvantage if the discretion under subsection 22(6) were not exercised.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse Mr Lawal's application for Australian citizenship.