LFRS and Minister for Foreign Affairs

This matter concerned an application for an Australian passport by a 14-year-old applicant, on whose behalf the application was made by her Father. The Mother, the Other Party, did not provide consent for the passport to be issued. The Respondent affirmed a decision to refuse to issue the passport, as the requirements of section 11 of the *Australian Passports Act 2005* (Cth) were not met. The Tribunal was asked to review this decision.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether there were special circumstances, as defined by section 10 of the *Australian Passports Determination 2015* (Cth), that would permit the issuance of a passport without the consent of both parents. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if there had been no contact between the child and the non-consenting parent for a substantial period prior to the application, and whether the child's welfare would be adversely affected if unable to travel internationally.

The Tribunal considered the evidence of text messages exchanged between the applicant and the Other Party, and messages sent by the Other Party to the applicant. While the applicant and Father argued that text messages did not constitute "contact" in the relevant sense, and that physical contact had ceased much earlier, the Tribunal found that the text message exchanges, including replies from the applicant at various times up to December 2018, demonstrated ongoing contact. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the condition of "no contact... for a substantial period" was not met. Furthermore, the Tribunal found no evidence that the applicant's welfare would be adversely affected by being unable to travel internationally.

As the Tribunal found that the applicant had not satisfied the requirements of section 11(2)(a) or 11(2)(b) of the Act, it was not necessary to consider the exercise of discretion regarding the issuance of the passport. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, meaning the applicant could not be issued a passport in the absence of the Other Party's consent or a court order.