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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for Australian citizenship by conferral, brought by Mas Rivadavia against the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The central dispute concerned whether the applicant was a person of good character for the purposes of paragraph 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth), given his past criminal offending.

The AAT was required to determine whether the applicant met the good character requirement, specifically in light of his prior convictions for conspiring to import a commercial quantity and a trafficable quantity of prohibited imports, as well as more recent driving offences. The Tribunal had to weigh these offences against any mitigating factors and consider whether sufficient time had elapsed since the offending to conclude the applicant was now of good character.

In reaching its decision, the AAT acknowledged the seriousness of the applicant's criminal offending, including the drug importation conspiracies and the 2019 driving offences. However, the Tribunal found that the mitigating factors in the circumstances of the case outweighed the past offending. The AAT was satisfied that a sufficient period had passed since the drug offending and the most recent driving offences, leading to the conclusion that the applicant was now of good character. Consequently, the decision under review was set aside and remitted with a direction that the applicant satisfied the good character requirement under paragraph 21(2)(h) of the Act.