XJLR v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

In the case of XJLR v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, the applicant, a New Zealand-born individual who had resided in Australia since 1992, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) not to revoke a delegate's decision to cancel his visa under section 501(3A) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The applicant's visa was initially cancelled in 2016, but this decision was subsequently revoked by a delegate in 2016. The applicant challenged the AAT's decision, arguing that the delegate's 2016 decision was affected by jurisdictional error and that the AAT misapplied Direction 79 in considering the expectations of the Australian community.

The legal issues before the court were whether the reasoning in Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v Makasa applied to the power under section 501(3A) and whether the validity of the section 501(3A) decision affected the AAT's ability to conduct a review under section 501CA(4). Additionally, the court had to determine whether the AAT's misapplication of Direction 79 was a material error.

The court found that the 2016 cancellation decision was indeed affected by jurisdictional error, as it relied on historical convictions that had already been the subject of an earlier cancellation decision. However, the court concluded that the applicant had not established jurisdictional error in relation to the AAT's review of the delegate's decision. The court held that the AAT did have jurisdiction to review the delegate's decision under section 501CA(4), regardless of the validity of the 2016 cancellation decision. Furthermore, the misapplication of Direction 79 by the AAT was not material, as the AAT's overall reasoning and decision were sound.

1. The application be dismissed with costs.