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

This matter concerned applications for Australian citizenship by conferral made by four applicants, citizens of Myanmar. A delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs refused the applications on the basis that the delegate was not satisfied of the applicants' identities, a prerequisite for approval under section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The applicants sought review of these decisions before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants had discharged their onus to establish, to the reasonable satisfaction of the Tribunal, their identities. This required the Tribunal to consider the evidence presented, including documentary evidence from Myanmar and Australia, oral testimony from one of the applicants, and statements from third parties, in light of the legislative requirements and relevant case law concerning the standard of satisfaction required.

The Tribunal considered the Citizenship Procedural Instructions and the evidence provided by the applicants, which included birth certificates, citizenship scrutiny cards, police certificates, and oral evidence detailing their life stories and the circumstances of their arrival in Australia as refugees. The Tribunal applied the principles established in *Briginshaw v Briginshaw* and subsequent cases, which require the decision-maker to feel an actual persuasion of the truth of a fact before it can be found, and that reasonable satisfaction is not attained independently of the nature and consequences of the fact to be proved. The Tribunal found that the prohibition under section 24(3) of the Act did not apply, and therefore set aside the delegate's decisions.

The Tribunal remitted each application back to the delegate with a direction that the prohibition under section 24(3) of the Act did not apply to the applicants' cases.