Stanley and Minister for Foreign Affairs

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to dismiss an application for review lodged by Mr Stanley. Mr Stanley sought to review two decisions made by the Minister on 8 September 2017: the cancellation of his Australian passport and a direction for the surrender of his foreign passport. Mr Stanley's stated grounds for review included his status as a reformed offender, recent overseas travel without incident, and the denial of his right to visit family and a partner overseas, which he argued infringed upon his human rights.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it should exercise its discretion under section 42B(1)(a) or (c) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth) to dismiss Mr Stanley's application for review. The Minister contended that the application was futile, meaning it was either frivolous or vexatious, or that no legitimate purpose could be achieved by its continuation, rendering any outcome futile and without practical effect.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr Stanley's application met the criteria for dismissal under the AAT Act. This involved assessing whether the grounds for review presented by Mr Stanley were so lacking in substance or prospect of success that continuing the proceedings would be a waste of resources and achieve no meaningful result. The Tribunal considered submissions from both parties at an interlocutory hearing, where Mr Stanley appeared in person and the Minister was represented. A subsequent request from the Western Australian Child Protection Registry on 20 March 2018 to refuse or cancel Mr Stanley's Australian and New Zealand passports was also before the Tribunal.