Does an applicant for a partner visa have a right to have a lawyer present when she/he is being interviewed by an independent expert to determine whether she/he has been the victim of family violence? 

This question was recently addressed by Judge Street of the Federal Circuit Court in the case of Bhalla v Minister for Immigration & Anor, (2015) FCCA 2381 (1 September 2015). As will be discussed below, Judge Street answered this question “in the negative”. His Honour held that it is not inconsistent with principles of “procedural fairness” – and therefore it does not amount to “jurisdictional error” – if an applicant’s lawyer is not permitted to accompany the applicant to an interview with an independent expert who is making an assessment as to whether “family violence” has occurred.  So the short answer: the applicant does not have a right to have a lawyer present.    

Readers of this blog will recall that late last week, a news article appeared on the ABC News Website that reported that Judge Street had ruled against visa applicant in 252 out of 254 cases that he had decided during the period between January 2015 and June 2015. That news article from the ABC, “Federal Circuit Court judge Alexander Street accused of bias after rejecting hundreds of migration cases” can be accessed by clicking through on the link.  

Australian universities have once again emerged as being among the best in the world according to the QS World University Rankings released earlier this week.

Australian National University maintained its place as the highest ranked local institution and climbed six places to become the first Australian university to get in the world’s top 20. Five Australian universities made the top 50.

In a statement on the rankings QS said that Australian universities' performance was remarkable because of their strength in all five of the broad academic disciplines which are judged, being among the top five countries in each of the subject areas.

It said Australia was particularly strong in arts and humanities with three universities - ANU, the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne - in the world's top 20 in this field.

It noted further that Australia's technical universities also showed strength with all five improving their performance on last year and in the top 300 worldwide.

Prime minister-designate MalcomTurnbull is finalising his new team in cabinet and is look set to replace several key ministerial roles including that of the treasurer and immigration minister.

Political analysts are predicting a greater female presence on the frontbench under Mr Turnbull, with possible promotions for Michaelia Cash, currently serving as assistant minister for immigration and border protection, and possibly Fiona Nash, assistant minister for health.

The futures of the likes of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, who ran against Julie Bishop for the deputy leadership during last night's spill, are less clear.

Recently, Mr Dutton made international news for insulting aboriginal people and making light of the potentially devastating effect of climate change on Australia’s Pacific neighbours. 

Last night, Malcolm Turnbull toppled Tony Abbot in a party ballot for Liberal leader by 54 votes to 44. Julie Bishop defeated Kevin Andrews 70 votes to 30 in ballot for deputy leader.

If, like me, you are constantly checking the Austlii Website to see what the latest and greatest pronouncement on migration law from the Federal Courts is (ok readers, don’t all put up your hands at once and say “Oh yeah, I check Austlii at least 4 times a day”!!) then you will have noticed that one of the issues that is decided most frequently is whether to grant an extension of time to allow a late application for judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to proceed.  

The issue seems to come up dozens of times a year.  And for those of us who are either “old enough to remember” (I’m definitely not!) or who are inclined towards the music of the ‘60s and early ‘70s, the issue brings to mind the lyrics of the famous Carole King song “It’s Too Late” from the album “Tapestry”: 

“And it's too late, baby now, it's too late,
Though we really did try to make it.”

Changes to Australia’s Significant Investor Visa in July this year have apparently resulted in a drop in the number of applications lodged to just seven according to a report in the Financial Times. Are investors heading elsewhere?

In an attempt to stop the flow of funds into the Australian property market, the government’s new rules essentially forced investor funds away from government bonds and the property market into high risk investments.

Some investment analysts have said that the changes to the SIV program would have a deterrent effect on the program with investors likely to shop elsewhere for their visa.

Tana Xuren, managing director of Lodestone Capital, a Melbourne-based financial advisory firm, told The Australian earlier this year that the Chinese who made up more than 90 per cent of all SIV applicants were conservative investors who preferred safe bets rather than high-risk ventures required under the new program.

“Many SIV clients are in their 50s. They have made their money from manufacturing and real estate; they are risk-averse. For some of them, putting money into venture capital is the same as paying fees to the Australian government...They don’t expect to get their money back.”