Author: spzlobby@gmail.com

Can protection visas be refused under s 501 for character grounds?

On 24 December 2019, the Full Federal Court found that the Section 501 character test did not apply to applications for protection visas under s 36 of the Migration Act 1958: BAL19 v Minister of Home Affairs [2019] FCA 2189. In this case, the Minister accepted that the applicant had fought for the LTTE since […]

New Zealanders planning legal challenge to Australian citizenship laws

An article in The Guardian on 28 January 2020 reports that a lobby group of New Zealand citizens plans to challenge Australia’s citizenship laws in court on the grounds that they “unreasonably deny the right to vote to the affected cohort” and “constitute unlawful race discrimination”. Whether the proposed challenge has any chance or success […]

High Court rules Aboriginal Australians are not aliens

The High Court of Australia has today ruled that Aboriginal Australians, even if not Australian citizens, cannot be considered “aliens” and therefore are beyond the reach of Commonwealth laws made in reliance on the aliens power in the Constitution, including the Migration Act 1958. A majority of the seven Justices of the Court held that: […]

Are planes the new boats?

It has been known for some time that the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by plane far exceeds the number of boat arrivals. It is also well known that the percentage who are found to be genuinely in need of protection is much lower for the plane arrivals. Labor Senator Kristina Keneally has […]

Stateless

Last Sunday saw the premiere of a six part ABC mini-series on the theme of refugees and Australia’s controversial treatment of them. One of the main plot lines is loosely based on the true story of a mentally ill woman who, despite having lived in Australia for most of her life as a permanent resident, […]

Don’t believe everything the Department tells you

Senior Migration Agent Thong Nguyen of Parish Patience Immigration Lawyers was recently contacted by a person who wanted to sponsor his mother and her de facto partner for subclass 870 visas. The 870 is a visa introduced last year which allows parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens to come to […]

Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) ANNOUNCED!!!

Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) announcedThe 17 occupations (ANZSCO code) are: Priority Migration Skilled Occupation ListChief Executive or Managing Director (111111) Construction Project Manager (133111) Mechanical Engineer (233512) General Practitioner (253111) Resident Medical Officer (253112) Psychiatrist (253411) Medical Practitioner nec (253999) Midwife (254111) Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (254412) Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) […]

Consequences? Failure To Reply To Invitation To Comment or response from the Administrative Appeals

Requests for information, comment or response from the Administrative Appeals TribunalExhausting the natural justice hearing rule A feature of merits review under both Part 5 and Part 7 is that both are governed by an “exhaustive statement of the natural justice hearing rule” – ss 357A and 422B respectively. In both cases the effect is […]