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

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision made by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The applicant had requested evidence of Australian citizenship from the Department of Home Affairs under section 37(4) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The delegate was not satisfied of the applicant's identity and therefore refused to issue the notice. The applicant sought review of this decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision made under section 37(4) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007*. This required the Tribunal to consider the scope of its review powers as defined by section 52 of the Act, which lists the specific decisions that may be reviewed.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 52(1) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* enumerates the decisions in respect of which an application for review may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Tribunal observed that a decision made under section 37(4) of the Act, which pertains to the Minister being satisfied of a person's identity before issuing a notice of citizenship, is not included in the list of reviewable decisions under section 52(1). Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked the jurisdiction to consider the applicant's application for review. The Tribunal certified that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the application lodged by the applicant for review of the decision refusing to issue a notice stating the applicant is an Australian citizen.