Administrative Review Council Inquiry on Migration
Key Issue 1 – Absence of internal review in the Department of Home Affairs
An individual who receives a primary migration or protection decision from Home Affairs cannot have that decision reviewed internally and can only appeal directly to the ART. This raises questions about how much flexibility people have. This includes the:
- requirements for submitting a valid application
- number of Home Affairs officers involved in processing the application
- timeliness to make a decision.
The Council wants to know whether there are any changes that could improve the number and quality of primary decisions for grant or refusal, including changes that could reduce the number of decisions that progress to external review. The Council also wants to know whether anything in the primary decision-making process or policies affects applicants’ choices about pursuing a merits review in the ART.
This is discussed further under Key Issue 1 in the Issues Paper.