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

This matter concerned an application by Mr Tran for judicial review of a decision to refuse to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his Class AS Subclass 801 Spouse visa. The applicant did not pass the character test due to having a substantial criminal record. The review was heard by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there was "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the applicant's visa, as required by section 501CA(4)(b)(ii) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). This involved considering the applicant's criminal history in light of Ministerial Direction No. 90, which sets out the framework for assessing character issues in migration matters.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's criminal record, including a conviction for supplying heroin in 2004 and subsequent repeat driving offences and contempt of court orders. While acknowledging the seriousness of the heroin supply offence and the repeated disregard for court orders, the Tribunal noted the absence of violent, sexual, or family violence offences specified as particularly serious in the Direction. The Tribunal reasoned that the cumulative effect of the applicant's conduct, particularly the contempt of court, was serious, but that the overall assessment, when weighed against the primary consideration of protecting the Australian community, favoured the exercise of discretion to revoke the cancellation.

The Tribunal concluded that there was "another reason" to revoke the cancellation of the applicant's visa. Accordingly, the decision under review was set aside and substituted with a decision that the cancellation of the applicant's visa be revoked.