Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

The government will be opposing this amendment. The government considers that review on the papers is an appropriate and proportionate method of review for temporary visa refusal matters. Having a standard process for these matters, particularly student visa matters, ensures there is certainty and consistency in how the tribunal deals with this high-volume cohort.

Giving the president discretion to exempt individual matters would likely result in a high number of applications to the president for that exemption, which would be time consuming and undermine the efficiency gains of this new process. Further, an applicant could seek judicial review of the president's exercise of discretion, or their failure to exercise discretion, in relation to this case. This would likely give rise to significant litigation and further delays in the resolution of matters.

Importantly, the bill already gives the Governor-General the ability to make regulations to proscribe certain types of applications, which would be exempted from the on-the-papers process. This gives the government flexibility to adapt these new procedures if it becomes clear, based on operational experience, that hearings would be preferable for certain cohorts.