ALJ22 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2024] FCA 1427

Federal Court of Australia ALJ22 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2024] FCA 1427 File number(s):

Judgment of: NEEDHAM J

Date of judgment: 12 December 2024

Catchwords: MIGRATION – application under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Migration Act)– where the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Tribunal) decided it lacked jurisdiction to determine an application for review of a Part 7-reviewable decision as the application was made out of time – where applicants applied to the Minister to exercise power to substitute for a decision of the Tribunal a more favourable decision under s 417 of the Migration Act – where Minister determined there is no power to substitute a more favourable decision as no relevant decision was made by the Tribunal under s 415 – whether a decision by the Tribunal regarding lack of jurisdiction is "a decision of the Tribunal under section 415" for the purposes of s 417 of the Migration Act STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – meaning of the word "decision" in a composite phrase – importance of construing entire phrase to determine meaning – entirety of s 415 including the stated purpose of the provision needs to be taken into account in construction of phrase

Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) s 33 Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth) ss 25, 43 Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) s 39B Legislation: Migration Act 1958 (Cth) Pt 7, Div 2, ss 198, 351, 410, 411, 412, 414, 415, 417, 424, 427 National Health Act 1953 (Cth) Superannuation Contributions Tax (Assessment and Collection) Act 1997 (Cth) s 8 Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) s 14ZZ Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) reg 4.31