Federal Court. Can it be said that "information about conditions in a specific country (usually called “country information”) may include information about an identified or reasonably identifiable individual" and therefore that country information may include "personal information" for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)?
Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Can it be said that "information about conditions in a specific country (usually called “country information”) may include information about an identified or reasonably identifiable individual" and therefore that country information may include "personal information" for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)?
Question 2: If the answer to Question 1 is "yes", does it follow that "such information (being the particular information about an identified or reasonably identifiable individual) is relevantly “new information” for the purposes of Div 3 of Pt 7AA of the Migration Act"?
Question 3: Can it be said that, "in so far as it relates to an identifiable individual, country information will therefore generally not be “new information” for the purposes of s 473DD(b)(ii) even though it may constitute “personal information” for the purposes of the Migration Act"?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: