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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by Mr Mahdawi, an Afghan citizen who had been an unregistered refugee in Iran. The delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs had refused the application, being unsatisfied of Mr Mahdawi's identity and his good character. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was required to review this decision.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Mahdawi had satisfied the requirements of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) concerning his identity and good character for the purposes of citizenship by conferral. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if it was satisfied of Mr Mahdawi's identity, as required by section 24(3) of the Act, and if he was of good character, as required by section 21(2)(h) of the Act.

The Tribunal, applying the principles from *Briginshaw v Briginshaw* and subsequent High Court authorities, considered the evidence regarding Mr Mahdawi's identity. While the Tribunal was ultimately satisfied of his identity, it found that Mr Mahdawi had provided misleading and false information to the Department during the application process, including multiple name variations and inconsistent accounts regarding his family circumstances. The Tribunal noted that opportunities to correct this information were not taken, and additional false claims were made. The Tribunal concluded that Mr Mahdawi had not met the obligation to provide true and accurate information. Consequently, although the Tribunal set aside the delegate's decision to refuse citizenship on the grounds of identity and directed that the prohibition under section 24(3) did not apply, it otherwise affirmed the refusal because it was not satisfied that Mr Mahdawi was of good character.