WACU v MIMIA

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by WACU against a decision of the Full Federal Court, which had affirmed a judgment of the Federal Court. The dispute concerned the interpretation of a provision within the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) relating to the review of decisions made by the Migration Internal Review Council (MIRC). WACU sought to challenge the lawfulness of a decision made by the Migration Internal Review Council (MIRC) concerning its members.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) permitted judicial review of a decision made by the MIRC in circumstances where the applicant had not first sought review of the MIRC's decision by the Migration Internal Review Council (MIRC). Specifically, the court had to determine the scope of the review rights conferred by section 486B of the Act and whether it created an exclusive pathway for challenging MIRC decisions.

The High Court, in its joint judgment delivered by Kirby and Heydon JJ, held that section 486B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) did not preclude judicial review of a MIRC decision under the *Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977* (Cth) where the applicant had not first sought a review of that decision by the MIRC itself. Their Honours reasoned that the language of section 486B indicated it provided an *additional* avenue for review, not an exclusive one, and that the ordinary principles of administrative law, including the availability of judicial review, should not be displaced unless Parliament had clearly evinced an intention to do so. The appeal was allowed.