In the event that your visa application is not successful, you may apply for a review of the decision – through the Migration and Refugee Division (MRD) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).
The MRD of the AAT conducts merits reviews of visa and visa-related decisions made by the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
Merits review is an administrative reconsideration of a case. A merits review body makes decisions within the same legislative framework as the primary decision maker, and may exercise all the powers and discretions conferred on the primary decision maker.
In reviewing a decision to refuse or cancel a visa, the tribunals are required to conduct a merits review that is ‘independent, fair, just, economical, informal and quick’. They aim to make the correct decision in individual cases, and to influence decision-making through quality and consistency of their decisions.