Tharmarajah and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral by Mr. Tharmarajah, a citizen of Sri Lanka. The delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs refused the application on the grounds that Mr. Tharmarajah was not of good character, as required by section 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth). Mr. Tharmarajah sought review of this decision before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr. Tharmarajah satisfied the good character requirement for citizenship by conferral, notwithstanding two offences for which he had been convicted. The Tribunal was required to consider the nature of the offences, the time elapsed since their commission, and the applicant's conduct and circumstances since the offending.

The Tribunal applied a holistic approach to assessing Mr. Tharmarajah's character. It noted that the offences, which involved watching his stepdaughter in the shower and touching her breast, were significant. However, the Tribunal also took into account that approximately seven years had passed since the offending, that there was no other recorded offending, and that Mr. Tharmarajah had provided character references and given evidence of his rehabilitation and integration into Australian society, including stable employment and marriage. On balance, the Tribunal was satisfied that Mr. Tharmarajah was now of good character.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision of 6 August 2021 refusing Mr. Tharmarajah's citizenship application and remitted the matter to the Department for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant satisfies the good character requirement under section 21(2)(h) of the Act.