Vaofusi v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

The case of Vaofusi v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection involved the applicant, Vaofusi, seeking judicial review of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to affirm a decision of a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to refuse to revoke a decision to cancel the applicant’s visa. The applicant argued that the AAT had taken into account irrelevant considerations and failed to take into account relevant considerations, specifically that the AAT had not correctly applied certain provisions of Direction No 65 regarding the best interests of minor children in Australia affected by the decision.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the AAT had erred in its consideration of the best interests of the applicant's three daughters under [13.2(3)] of Direction No 65, and whether this constituted a failure to correctly apply the relevant provisions of the Direction. The court examined whether the AAT had failed to give individual consideration to the best interests of each of the applicant’s daughters, as required by the Direction, and whether this omission constituted a legal or factual error.

The court found that there was no discernible legal or factual error in the AAT’s approach or in the conclusions reached. The court determined that the AAT had, in fact, separately considered the best interests of the applicant’s partner's five-year-old child, which indicated a proper application of the Direction where differences were apparent. The court held that the applicant had not demonstrated that there were differing interests between his three daughters that warranted separate consideration, especially given his limited contact with them. Consequently, the court dismissed the application and ordered the applicant to pay the Minister's costs.

In summary, the Federal Court found that the AAT had not erred in its consideration of the best interests of the applicant's children, and thus dismissed the application with costs.