Ministerial Intervention

If you have received a decision by a review tribunal and you are not pleased with the outcome, you can make a request for Ministerial Intervention.

The Minister enjoys two discretions. The Minister may choose to intervene or not and if the Minister chooses to intervene, the Minister may choose to overturn the review tribunal's decision or not.

The Minister's public interest powers require a decision from a review tribunal before a request can be made to the Minister, seeking the Minister's intervention.

Although a Minister has the power to reverse a decision made by a review tribunal, there are certain circumstances where the minister cannot intervene. These include where:

• The Department of Immigration and Citizenship's (DIAC) decision not to grant a visa is not a decision that can be reviewed by the relevant review tribunal;
• The review tribunal has referred your case back to DIAC for further consideration and a departmental decision-maker has made a subsequent decision on the visa;
• Your review tribunal decision was made before 1 September 1994;
• A finding by the tribunal that the department's decision is not reviewable by it;
• A finding by the tribunal that the application was not made within the required timeframe;
• A decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that is not in respect of an MRT reviewable decision or a protection visa decision.

 

DIAC will advise if your request cannot be considered under the Minister's public interest powers.

Due to the complexity of requesting ministerial intervention, we can help you with your application and liaise with the department on your behalf.