Review of decisions

Reviewable decisions

The Australian Passports Act 2005 (the Act), Section 48 provides for certain decisions to be reviewable decisions. The decisions that are reviewable are listed below.

• a decision to issue an Australian travel document (other than a decision to issue an Australian passport to a child, as this is more appropriately dealt with by a court of law);


• a decision to refuse to issue an Australian travel document (except in certain circumstances related to children under subsection 11(3) of the Act or Australian law enforcement matters under subsection 12(2) of the Act);


• a decision to cancel an Australian travel document;


• a decision to demand the surrender of an Australian travel document under subsection 23, 24 and 25 of the Act (except when seized by Customs and Border Protection officers as a suspicious document under subsection 26 of the Act);


• a decision to extend, or not to extend, the time for making an application for a review under subsection 49 of the Act;


• a decision not to waive an application fee; and


• a decision not to refund, or to refund part of, an application fee;

Applying for a review of a decision

Applications for a review of a decision must be lodged within 28 days after the applicant has been notified of the original decision. There is no fee for lodging a request for a review of a decision.

Internal review of a reviewable decision will be undertaken by an officer who has not been involved in the original decision to examine all the facts carefully. The original decision may be affirmed; it may be varied; or it may be set aside and a new decision made in its place.

If the applicant is still not satisfied following the internal review, they may seek to have the decision further reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (except for the non-reviewable decisions, mentioned above).