No Images? Click here Access to information and documents in AAT casesThe AAT has arrangements in place to provide information about some AAT cases without the need to make a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. The AAT’s online search tool, eCase search, provides access to publicly available information about applications in the General, Tax and Commercial, NDIS, FoI and Veterans’ Appeals Divisions. It does not include information about most migration, refugee, security and first tier social services and child support matters or any applications with confidentiality restrictions. Details about upcoming hearings are also available to the public through the daily list. Once the AAT has made a decision, a published version of the decision can usually be accessed on the AustLII website. To learn more please click below. Statement about recent media coverage Recent media coverage about the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) contained statistical and factual errors. Much of the coverage concerned matters where the AAT has reviewed the Department of Home Affair’s decisions to refuse or cancel a visa.The role of the AAT is to apply the law enacted by the Federal Parliament, including relevant ministerial directions. For the full statement, including detailed statistics and information on the AAT’s commitment to transparency, please click below. These summaries are prepared by AAT staff to provide insight into the types of decisions we make and why the decisions are made. For the complete facts and reasons, please view the full written decisions on Austlii. Decision summaries are routinely uploaded to the AAT website. Below are the summaries uploaded over the last month.Freedom of Information Australian Associated Press Pty Limited and Secretary, Department of Home Affairs (Freedom of information) 2018 AATA 741The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) made a decision to grant only limited access to certain documents of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the Department) which relate to visas granted personally by the Minister. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal affirmed the decision. Thomas; Secretary, Department of Defence and (Freedom of information) [2018] AATA 604The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) made a decision to give the respondent, a journalist, access to a series of text messages sent between the Chief and Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The Administrative Appeals Tribunal set aside this decision and made an order that access to the text messages be refused. General DivisionBanerji and Comcare (Compensation) [2018] AATA 892 The applicant was refused workers compensation for post traumatic stress disorder after her employment in the public service was terminated for breaches of the APS code of conduct due to her use of an anonymous twitter account to post tweets about the then government and the Department she worked for. The Tribunal set aside the decision. Oates and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social services second review) [2018] AATA 410 The parties to the matter were the parents of three children who had separated but remained living together in the same residence. The Tribunal considered the percentage of care each parent had of the children for child support purposes. Migration & Refugee Division1509786 (Refugee) [2018] AATA 715An application made by a family of three for Protection visas was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The applicant seeking protection claimed he would be persecuted if returned to Libya because of his association with the Gaddafi regime and his active participation in revolutionary activities. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration. FU (Migration) 2018 AATA 732A delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection cancelled the applicant’s Student visa. The applicant was a 30 year old Chinese citizen who had manslaughter charges against her at the time of the decision. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal set aside the decision and replaced it with one not to cancel the visa. Li (Migration) [2018] AATA 587A delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection refused to grant the applicant a Subclass 820 (Partner) visa because he was not the holder of a substantive visa and did not meet the criteria in Schedule 3 to the Migration Regulations 1994 . The Administrative Appeals Tribunal affirmed the decision. Paudel (Migration) [2018] AATA 600 A delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection refused the applicant’s Student visa. The issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant intended to genuinely stay in Australia temporarily for the purposes of study. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal affirmed the decision. National Disability Insurance Scheme Division LNMT and National Disability Insurance Agency [2018] AATA 431 The applicant, a girl aged 11 who suffered from blindness, epilepsy and cognitive impairments, requested further variations to her participant plan under the National Disability Insurance Scheme to provide funding for additional supports. The Tribunal varied her plan providing additional supports. Social Services & Child Support DivisionHellier and Rutter (Child support) [2018] AATA 541The Tribunal varied a decision made by an objections officer of the Department of Human Services to adjust the applicant’s adjusted taxable income for the purposes of a child support assessment. The decision concerned the application of the assessment formula where a parent's income, financial resources, property and earning capacity may not accurately reflect the income used for a child support assessment. Kendall and Child Support Registrar (Child Support) [2018] AATA 257The Tribunal reviewed the assessment of the percentages of care for two separated parents where the child support assessment did not reflect the actual care of the child. The AAT Bulletin is a weekly publication containing information about recently published decisions and appeals against decisions in the AAT’s General, Freedom of Information, National Disability Insurance Scheme, Security, Taxation & Commercial and Veterans’ Appeals Divisions. The Bulletin also regularly includes a sample of decisions recently published in the AAT’s Migration & Refugee Division and Social Services & Child Support Division. What do you think?Write to us at Communications@aat.gov.au to provide editorial suggestions and feedback. |