Major v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs [2024] FCA 597

Federal Court of Australia

Major v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs [2024] FCA 597 File number: NSD 638 of 2023

Judgment of: BROMWICH J

Date of judgment: 7 June 2024

Catchwords: MIGRATION – where the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs had set aside a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and refused the grant of a visa under s 501A(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) – where the decision of the Tribunal had been made subject to Direction 90 (since replaced by Direction 99) – where the decision of the Minister chose to be guided by Direction 99 – where the applicant had resided in Australia since the age of about seven – where the applicant had been convicted of sexual offences against his young son – where the Minister had referred in passing to the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (New Plan) in his reasons and had not provided the applicant an opportunity to comment on it – where the New Plan was not in the bundle of materials before the Minister – whether the reference to the New Plan meant the Minister had that plan before him – whether the applicant had been denied procedural fairness – whether there was inconsistency in the Minister's reasons rendering the decision legally unreasonable or illogical – DECISION: no error established – even if there had been an error it would not have been jurisdictional – both grounds of review fail – application dismissed with costs

Legislation: Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ss 499, 501(1), (6)(a), (7)(c), 501A(2), (3), (4), Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) Direction no. 90 – Visa refusal and cancellation under section 501 and revocation of a mandatory cancellation of a visa under section 501CA, dated 8 March 2021 Direction no. 99 – Visa refusal and cancellation under section 501 and revocation of a mandatory cancellation of a visa under section 501CA, dated 23 January 2023