Skillington v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had affirmed the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection's decision to refuse Mr Skillington's application for a Protection visa. Mr Skillington, an Australian citizen, sought to bring his partner, a citizen of the Philippines, to Australia. The Minister's decision was based on the partner's alleged failure to meet the criteria for a Partner visa, specifically regarding the genuineness of the relationship and the partner's alleged failure to disclose a previous marriage. Mr Skillington sought judicial review of the AAT's decision in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had erred in law in its assessment of the evidence concerning the genuineness of the relationship between Mr Skillington and his partner, and whether the AAT had failed to adequately consider all relevant evidence when making its determination. A further issue concerned the AAT's approach to the partner's alleged failure to disclose a previous marriage, and whether this constituted a failure to meet the character requirements for the visa.

Bell ACJ found that the AAT had made a jurisdictional error by failing to consider all the evidence before it, particularly evidence relating to the length and nature of the relationship, and the circumstances surrounding the alleged previous marriage. The Court held that the AAT had impermissibly narrowed its focus to specific aspects of the evidence, thereby failing to undertake a comprehensive review of the application. The principles of administrative law requiring a tribunal to consider all relevant evidence and to conduct a fresh, merits-based review were central to the Court's reasoning.

The Court ordered that the AAT's decision be set aside and remitted to the AAT for redetermination according to law.