Considering new information pursuant to s 473DD of the Migration Act

When the Immigration Assessment Authority assesses whether it is permitted to consider new information pursuant to s 473DD of the Migration Act, it needs to consider whether the information is credible personal information (s 473DD(b)(ii)). However, the Authority at times misunderstands this test. The Authority must not determine whether the new information is true, but rather only consider whether it is open or capable of being accepted as true (CSR16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2018] FCA 474). Rather, it is only at the deliberative stage of the review that the Authority is required to determine whether or not the new information is actually true. This is just one of several ways that the authority might misconstrue the test under s 473DD and fall into jurisdictional error. As such, it is always worthwhile to carefully examine how the Authority has applied s 473DD and whether its decision demonstrates a misunderstanding that raises grounds for judicial review.