Asylum seekers argue that secretary of department should honour pledge to establish processes to deal with cases

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A federal circuit court judge has reserved his decision on whether a case involving a group of asylum seekers who were named in a massive data breach will continue to a full hearing.



The asylum seekers counsel, Shane Prince, argued the secretary of the immigration department had made representation to the asylum seekers in March that there would be processes in place to deal with their applications.

“The secretary needs to honour the representations made,” Prince said. “He made a promise to each individual to consider their individual circumstances.”

“There is a real utility in an injunction because we don’t want to be coming here before the horse has bolted,” Prince said.

The immigration department’s counsel said the review processes in place to determine the implications of the breach was “still a process that is being developed”, but argued it was premature for the asylum seekers to be seeking injunctions and declarations.

“No viable claim for an injunction lies until there is something purportedly done under the act,” he said.

He added that “the fact the processes aren’t set out in chapter and rules” did not mean that the secretary had not made a genuine representation.

Guardian Australia revealed in February that the names, dates of birth, countries of origin, arrival date and location of every asylum seeker in a mainland detention facility was accidentally published on the Immigration Department’s website. Asylum seekers across Australia began lodging court appeals in March following the disclosures.

Justice Rolf Driver has reserved his decision on whether the case will go to a hearing.