Federal Court: Where the Minister is not obliged to, and does not, provide reasons for a decision: does a submission to the Minister provided by the Department necessarily constitute the Minister's reasons if the decision was recorded on the front page of the submission?; how can a court determine whether the Minister's decision was legally unreasonable?; can it be inferred that the Minister considered the Department's submission? Generally speaking, what are the matters an administrative decision-maker must take into account in exercising a discretion?
The questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: In circumstances where the Minister is not obliged to, and does not, provide reasons for a decision, does a submission to the Minister provided by the Department necessarily constitute the Minister's reasons if the decision was recorded on the front page of the submission?
Question 2: In circumstances where the Minister is not obliged to, and does not, provide reasons for a decision, how can a court determine whether the Minister's decision was legally unreasonable?
Question 3: In circumstances where the Minister is not obliged to, and does not, provide reasons for a decision, but has received a submission from the Department, can it be inferred that the Minister considered that submission?
Question 4: Generally speaking, what are the matters an administrative decision-maker must take into account in exercising a discretion?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: