Masikip and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship)

The applicant, Masikip, sought judicial review of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection's decision to refuse his application for the conferral of Australian citizenship. The refusal was based on the applicant not satisfying the good character requirement, a determination made by the Minister in accordance with the relevant provisions of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) and associated policy. The matter was heard by Antoinette Younes SM in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was of good character for the purposes of the citizenship application, given his status as an unlawful non-citizen for a lengthy period. This required the Tribunal to consider the weight to be given to this period of unlawful status in the overall assessment of good character, and how it interacted with the principles outlined in the Citizenship Policy.

The Tribunal affirmed the Minister's decision, finding that the applicant's prolonged period of unlawful status in Australia was a significant factor that weighed against a finding of good character. The Tribunal applied the principles of the Citizenship Policy, which requires a holistic assessment of an applicant's character. It was held that the applicant had not discharged the onus of demonstrating that he was of good character, and therefore did not meet the requirements for the conferral of citizenship.