LPSP v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

In the case of LPSP v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, the applicant sought judicial review of a direction made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) under section 33 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth). The dispute arose during a review of a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse the applicant a protection visa. The Minister applied for the hearing before the AAT to be adjourned to obtain an independent expert report, and subsequently requested that the AAT compel the applicant to attend a psychiatric consultation. The AAT made the Direction on 11 June 2021, which the applicant sought to have reviewed.

The court was required to determine whether the AAT's direction to compel the applicant to participate in a psychiatric examination was authorised by section 33 of the Act. The court also needed to decide if the direction was legally unreasonable and whether it was an improper exercise of power because it was uncertain. The applicant argued that the direction was not authorised by section 33 of the Act, and that it was legally unreasonable and uncertain. The Minister contended that the direction was authorised by the Act, and that it was not legally unreasonable or uncertain.

The court found that the direction was not authorised by section 33 of the Act, as it did not fall within the scope of the power granted to the AAT by that section. The court also found that the direction was legally unreasonable because it interfered with the applicant's common law right to privacy without any specific statutory authority. Furthermore, the court found that the direction was an improper exercise of power because it was uncertain, as it did not clearly specify the purpose and scope of the psychiatric examination. The court granted the application for judicial review and set aside the direction made by the AAT. The Minister was ordered to pay the applicant's costs.