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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by a child born in Australia. The dispute arose when the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs refused the application. The case was heard by P. Q. Wood SM.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the child applicant was considered stateless and therefore eligible for Australian citizenship under section 21(8) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). This eligibility hinged on the citizenship status of the child's parents, who claimed to have been citizens of Myanmar but whose citizenship had allegedly ceased.

The court considered the provisions of the Burma Citizenship Law 1982, specifically section 7 regarding who is considered a citizen and section 16 concerning the cessation of citizenship. The applicant's parents asserted that their Myanmar citizenship had been cancelled upon reaching adulthood. The court noted that while failure to reapply for a 'Citizenship Scrutiny Card' might not automatically cause a loss of citizenship, the applicant's representatives argued that certain groups, including Muslims and those of Indian heritage, often failed to obtain such cards, effectively rendering them non-citizens. The court accepted that the applicant's father, due to his 'Bengali' race classification, was not entitled to full citizenship but may have been eligible for associate or naturalised citizenship. Crucially, the court found that if the parents had indeed ceased to be citizens of Myanmar, they would be considered stateless.

The court determined that the applicant was eligible for citizenship by conferral under section 21(8) of the Act. Consequently, the delegate's decision to refuse the application was set aside and remitted to the Respondent for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant satisfies the requirements of section 21(8).