Attachment A
The statistics provided in response to your request for information about ‘refugee cases’
relate only to applications made to the AAT’s Migration & Refugee Division under Part 7 of
the
Migration Act 1958 for review of decisions to refuse to grant, or to cancel, a protection
visa that were finalised from 1 January 2015 to 5 December 2019. The AAT has interpreted
‘asylum seeker’ to include:
• a person who applied for a protection visa and is seeking review of a decision to
refuse to grant the visa; and
• a person who held a protection visa and is seeking review of a decision to cancel the
visa.
1) Documents which outline the number of refugee cases each decision-maker has decided
from 1 January 2015 to 5 December 2019.
See table at Attachment B. The statistics provided relate to all valid applications that
were finalised after constitution to a Tribunal member, including applications withdrawn
by the applicant. The statistics do not include:
• applications in relation to which a Tribunal member decided that the decision
was not subject to review, the applicant did not have standing to apply for a
review or the application was not made within the prescribed time limit;
2) Documents which outline the number of refugee cases [where] each individual decision-
maker has affirmed the decision under review and the number of cases each decision-
maker has decided in favour of the asylum seeker.
See table at Attachment B. The statistics provided in relation to decisions that have been
affirmed include:
• a decision under section 415(2) of the
Migration Act 1958 to affirm the decision
under review; and
• a decision under section 426A(1C)(b) or 426A(1E) of the
Migration Act 1958 to
confirm a decision to dismiss an application on the basis the applicant did not
appear before the Tribunal at a hearing.
The AAT has interpreted a decision ‘in favour of the asylum seeker’ to mean any
decision made by the Tribunal under section 415(2) of the
Migration Act 1958 to vary or
set aside the decision under review or to remit the matter for reconsideration in
accordance with such directions or recommendations of the Tribunal as are permitted by
the regulations.
Notes:
• During the period the outcomes for applications from Malaysian Nationals differed
from those for applications from Nationals of other countries:
o 41% of all decisions affirmed under review were from Malaysian
Nationals. Of the 41% affirmed, 19% were dismissed under section
426A(1C)(b) or 426A(1E) of the
Migration Act 1958. The total percentage
of applications dismissed under the same provisions, for all applicants
excluding Malaysian Nationals, was 5%;
o a total of 89% of valid applications from Malaysian Nationals had a
decision affirmed under review;
o 93% of valid applications from Malaysian Nationals who applied for review
under Part 7 of the Migration Act were self-represented and 7%
represented. For all other countries, except Malaysia, 39% of applicants
were self-represented and 61% represented.
• The above figures include all outcomes finalised, with the exception of those
where the member decided that the decision was not subject to review, the
applicant did not have standing to apply for a review or the application was not
made within the prescribed time limit.
3) Documents which outline overall how many asylum seeker applicants had legal
representation at their AAT hearing.
The AAT’s case management system records that 7,629 applicants had representation
at any point in their review, including migration agents and lay representatives. The AAT
is unable to identify whether a migration agent representative is a lawyer or whether an
applicant was represented specifically at the time of the hearing.
4) Documents which outline how many applicants had legal representation across
individual decision-makers (i.e. how many represented and unrepresented applicants did
each decision-maker have in their caseload).
See table at Attachment B. As noted above, the statistics provided relate to whether the
applicant had any kind of representative at any point during the review, not only legal
representation.
5) Documents which outline how many legally represented applicants were successful and
how many unrepresented applicants were successful overall.
Decision under review Decision under review varied or
affirmed
set aside or matter remitted for
reconsideration
Represented
5,048
1,997
applicants
Self-represented
9,089
405
applicants
As noted above, the statistics provided for represented applicant relate to whether the
applicant had any kind of representative at any point during the review, not only legal
representation.
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6) Documents which outline how many represented applicants were successful before
individual decision-makers and how many unrepresented applicants were successful
before individual decision makers.
See table at Attachment B. The AAT has interpreted “applicants were successful’ to
mean that the Tribunal made a decision under section 415(2) of the
Migration Act 1958 to vary or set aside the decision under review or to remit the matter for reconsideration in
accordance with such directions or recommendations of the Tribunal as are permitted by
the regulations.
7) Documents which outline the length of time on average refugee cases take to be
decided.
For information about the average length of time taken from lodgement to finalisation for
applications for review of decisions under Part 7 of the
Migration Act 1958:
• for the 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 financial years and the 2019–20 financial
year to date, please refer to the Migration and Refugee Division Caseload Report
for each financial year available on the following webpage:
http://www.aat.gov.au/about-the-aat/corporate-information/statistics
• for the 2015–16 financial year, please refer to the
2015–16 AAT Annual Report; • for the period including 1 January 2015 to 1 July 2015 (pre-amalgamation),
please refer to the
2014–15 Migration Review Tribunal/Refugee Review Tribunal
Annual Report
8) Documents which outline the length of time on average each decision-maker takes to
decide cases.
See table at Attachment B. The statistics provided are the average (mean) time taken
from constitution of applications to the Tribunal member to finalisation. As the figures are
based on the mean, the calculations include outliers which may affect the overall values.
9) Documents which outline the nationality of applicants before individual decision-makers
(i.e. how many cases did each decision maker decide from each separate nationality of
the asylum seeker applicant) and the data on the distribution of success rates across
nationality for each individual decision maker.
See table at Attachment B.
10) Documents which outline how many refugee cases are published on the public record
and how many refugee cases are not publicly published.
The total number of written statements of reasons for decisions made under Part 7 of the
Migration Act 1958 prepared in relation to applications finalised from 1 January 2015 to 5
December 2019 is
19,948.
The total numbers of these written statements of reasons that have been published as at
29 January 2020 is
3,636. A further 445 of these statements of reasons are being
prepared for publication at 29 January 2020.
The AAT publishes 20% of statements of reasons for decisions made under Part 7 of the
Migration Act 1958. If selected, the
written statements of reasons for decision are
prepared in accordance with section 501K of the
Migration Act 1958. This section
provides that the identity of applicants for protection visas, protection-related bridging
visas and those whose protection visa or protection-related bridging visas are cancelled,
are not to be published. Consequently, these written statements of reasons for decision
must be redacted prior to publication. More information regarding publication of AAT
decisions is available in our
Publications of Decisions policy.
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Document Outline
