MIGRATION - Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa - Subclass 500 (Student) - failure to attend Tribunal hearing - application dismissed

Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (Cth), ss 9, 99

Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth)

Migration Act 1958 (Cth), s 379A

1. On 14 October 2024, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) became the Administrative Review Tribunal (the Tribunal). Under the transitional provisions in the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No. 1) Act 2024 (the Transitional Act), applications for review to the AAT that were not finalised before 14 October 2024 are taken to be an application for review to the Tribunal. The Transitional Act gives the Tribunal the authority to continue and finalise any aspect of the review not already completed by the AAT. This decision and statement of reasons is made by the Tribunal.
2. The applicant lodged his review application with the AAT on 30 April 2024. The application relates to the review of a student visa refusal. On 9 July 2025, the applicant responded to a request from the Tribunal by email, with a completed Student Visa Information (SVI) form and a change of address form with his new residential address listed. The applicant's change of address form also contained his mobile telephone number and his email address.
3. The Tribunal sent a hearing notice to the applicant by email on 18 July 2025. In that hearing notice, the applicant was notified to appear before the Tribunal on 8 August 2025 at 11:30am. A few days prior to the scheduled hearing the hearing was cancelled as the Member was unwell and a notice of a rescheduled hearing, dated 6 August 2025 was sent to the applicant by email. The rescheduled hearing notice notified the applicant to appear before the Tribunal on 22 August 2025 at 11:30am. The hearing notice stated that if he did not attend the hearing, the Tribunal may dismiss the application for review without any further consideration of the application or the information before it.
4. The hearing notice advised the applicant that the hearing would be conducted by video conference on MS Teams and it contained a MS Teams link, meeting ID and passcode with the details of how to access the hearing. The hearing notice also requested that the applicant click on the MS Teams link at least 15 minutes prior to the hearing start time, and that closer to the hearing date a Tribunal staff member would contact the applicant to arrange a test connection.
5. On 7 August 2025 the applicant sent his completed hearing notice response to the Tribunal by email indicating that he would attend the hearing.
6. On 15 August 2025 and on 21 August 2025 the Tribunal sent SMS reminders to the applicant's mobile telephone number (the same number that he had provided to the Tribunal in July 2025) reminding him of the hearing.
7. Case notes on the Tribunal file indicate that on 18 August 2025 a Tribunal staff member called the applicant to undertake a test connection. The case note indicates that the applicant declined the test and then terminated the call.
8. The applicant did not appear before the Tribunal on the day and at the scheduled time and place. The hearing was due to commence at 10:30am. The applicant had via the hearing notice, been requested to connect to the video hearing as per the instructions in the hearing notice at least 15 minutes prior to 10:30am. At 10:35am a Tribunal staff member called the applicant's mobile telephone. The call was answered but quickly the call was terminated without the applicant speaking with the Tribunal staff member. At 10:36am the Tribunal member called the applicant's mobile telephone number again and the call went straight to voicemail. As there was no identification on the voicemail message confirming that the voicemail box belonged to the applicant, the Tribunal staff member did not leave a message.
9. There is no evidence before the Tribunal, that the applicant connected with the MS Teams link or attempted to connect using the unique meeting ID and passcode at the scheduled time, as instructed to do in the hearing notice. There is also no record of the applicant contacting the Tribunal by any other means at the scheduled time to explain why they had not attempted to connect to the MS Teams link or used the meeting ID and passcode to attend the hearing.
10. Having reviewed the Tribunal file, the Tribunal is satisfied that the review applicant was properly invited to a hearing in accordance with s379A(5) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The Tribunal is also satisfied that the email address used to send the hearing notice to the applicant is the same email address that the applicant had previously used to communicate with the Tribunal. Given that the applicant sent the Tribunal an email as recently as 7 August 2025 and confirmed his intention to attend the hearing, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant has been properly notified.
11. In these circumstances, to resolve the matter in accordance with the Tribunal's statutory objective,[1] the Tribunal has decided to dismiss the application[2] without further consideration of that application or the information before the Tribunal.

[1] As per s9 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024.

[2] As per s99 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024.