High Court. In relation to s 501CA(4) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), can it be said that there is "no barrier to the Minister reading and understanding the representations made by an applicant by other methods including the method of relying only upon a departmental summary of them, so long as that summary is accurate and contains a full account of the essential content"?
Some of the questions to the High Court (HCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Does the law treat the collective knowledge and experience of the department as the Minister's own knowledge and experience?
Question 2: Can a Minister "rely on his or her department to sift and organise material received, to prepare summaries of information, and to prioritise correspondence"?
Question 3: Generally, is there an obligation on a Minister to read each and every relevant document in order to exercise a power personally?
Question 4: Does s 501CA(4) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) oblige, by necessary implication, the decision-maker to consider the representations received in reaching the state of satisfaction?
Question 5: In relation to s 501CA(4), can it be said that there is "no barrier to the Minister reading and understanding the representations made by an applicant by other methods including the method of relying only upon a departmental summary of them, so long as that summary is accurate and contains a full account of the essential content"?
Question 6: Are there grave consequences for a person whose visa is cancelled under s 501(3A)?
The HCA answered those questions as follows: