O'Riordan and Minister for Home Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for an extension of time to lodge an application for review, brought by Mr O’Riordan against the Minister for Home Affairs. The application was heard by Senior Member Chris Puplick AM of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether it was reasonable in all the circumstances to grant the extension of time. This involved considering the significance of the delay, the sufficiency of the explanation provided for the delay, and whether the application had merit, specifically whether the applicant was likely to reside in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with the country.

The Tribunal reasoned that the delay of approximately three months was not "significant" when compared to other cases where extensions had been granted for much longer periods. While the explanation for the delay, involving an email being sent to a spam folder and subsequent delays in action, raised some concerns, it was not considered entirely lacking in credibility. The Tribunal also noted that an acceptable explanation for delay is not an essential precondition for granting an extension, but rather a factor to be considered alongside others. Applying the principle that genuine issues ought to be litigated if it can be done with fairness to all concerned, the Tribunal adopted a benign view of the application.

The Tribunal granted the applicant an extension of time to lodge his application for review to 9 April 2018.