Crusingforsex.com : An Empirical Critique of the Evidentiary Practices of the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal

See Millbank Jenni , ‘Imagining Otherness: Refugee Claims on the Basis of Sexuality in Canada and Australia’ (2002) 26 Melbourne University Law Review 144; Dauvergne Catherine Millbank Jenni , ‘Before the High Court: Applicants S396/2002 and S395/2002, a gay refugee couple from Bangladesh’ (2003) 25 Sydney Law Review 97.

127 of the decisions studied were Canadian and 204 were Australian. We have also reviewed reported Australian cases to the end of 2002 to assess whether significant changes had occurred.

See Macklin Audrey , ‘Cross-Border Shopping for Ideas: A Critical Review of United States, Canadian, and Australian Approaches to Gender-Related Asylum Claims’ (1998) 13 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 25. The most important distinction is that the refugee tribunal in Canada makes the decision at first instance, whereas the Australian Tribunal conducts a full merit review of a decision first made by a delegate of the Minister. This distinction is less significant than it seems at first because the acceptance rates at first instance in Australia are very low (8%) and a majority of those who are rejected seek a merits review in the RRT where the decision is re-made.

Lesbian claimants were dramatically under-represented in our data, with only 14% of the Canadian claims and 21% of the Australian claims brought by women. Comparing lesbian claimants in both countries is shocking: In Canada their success rate was ten times that of Australia. In Canada, lesbian claimants actually had a somewhat higher success rate than gay men (69% while gay men had a 52% success rate) while in Australia lesbian claimants were overwhelmingly unsuccessful (a mere 7% of lesbian claimants succeeded, compared to 26% of gay men). We argue that one of the most important reasons for the difference in outcomes in Australia and Canada is the evidentiary practices of the RRT.

Section 420(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Migration Act 1958 s 430(1).

Muin v Refugee Review Tribunal; Lie v Refugee Review Tribunal [2002] HCA 30.

Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 424A.

In RRT Reference N98/24600 (Unreported, Russell, 26 November, 1998).

In RRT Reference N95/10132 (Unreported, Griffin, 16 September 1997) and RRT Reference N95/09483 (Unreported, Mathlin, 26 November 1997).

RRT Reference N97/15062 (Unreported, Short, 17 November 1997); RRT Reference V97/07412 (Unreported, Haig, 24 December 1997) and RRT Reference N98/21139 (Unreported, Witton, 8 October 1998).

RRT Reference N95/10132 (Unreported, Griffin, 16 September 1997).

RRT Reference N98/24600 (Unreported, Russell, 26 November 1998). For a more detailed discussion see Millbank , ‘Imagining Otherness’, above n 1.

RRT Reference N95/09584 (Unreported, Blair, 31 October 1996); RRT Reference N95/09483 (Unreported, Mathlin, 26 November 1997) and RRT Reference N99/28440 (Unreported, Mathlin, 20 January 2000).

RRT Reference N97/14745 (Unreported, Hardy, 14 July 1998); RRT Reference N97/14489 (Unreported, Gutman, 23 July 1998) and RRT Reference N98/23955 (Unreported, Gutman, 24 September 1998).

RRT Reference N98/20912 (Unreported, Cristoffanini, 3 February 1999).

RRT Reference N98/24600 (Unreported, Russell, 26 November 1998); and RRT Reference N98/24718 (Unreported, Russell, 19 March 1999).

Hendricks Aart (eds), The Third Pink Book: A Global View of Lesbian and Gay Liberation and Oppression (1993).

RRT Reference N97/18897 (Unreported, Kelleghan, 13 November 1998). All of these sites are coded as, ‘At your own risk. Dangerous place with risk of personal attack and police activity’.

RRT Reference V98/09564 (Unreported, Vrachnas, 4 May 1999).

Eg RRT Reference V98/08938 (Unreported, Kissane , 2 November 1998) does include the first quote but omits the reference to police raids and the second quote; RRT Reference N97/19670 (Unreported, Holmes , 4 September 1998); RRT Reference N99/27818 (Unreported, Kelleghan , 29 June 1999); RRT Reference N99/26435 (Unreported, Hoysted , 31 May 1999); RRT Reference N98/25578 (Unreported, O'Brien , 2 March 1999); RRT Reference N97/19671 (Unreported, Kelleghan , 25 January 1999) and RRT Reference N97/20446 (Unreported, Zelinka , 11 March 1999) paraphrase elements.

RRT Reference N98/26197 (Unreported, Gutman , 11 May 1999); RRT Reference N98/21640 (Unreported, Klintworth , 21 December 1998); RRT Reference N98/21178 (Unreported, Klintworth , 4 December 1998) and RRT Reference N98/21639 (Unreported, Klintworth , 21 December 1998).

See eg RRT Reference N97/20090 (Unreported, Short , 8 March 1999); RRT Reference N97/14768 (Unreported, Thomson , 29 April 1998).

See RRT Reference N99/28009 (Unreported, Smidt , 19 June 2000) repeated verbatim in RRT Reference N00/36301 (Unreported, Rosser , 24 December 2001).

See eg RRT Reference N98/21005 (Unreported, Thomson , 25 May 2000); RRT Reference N95/09552 (Unreported, Woodward , 4 September 1998); RRT Reference N98/20994 (Unreported, Rosser , 4 May 1998). In another case, it was cited only as evidence that there were places men could meet for sex: RRT Reference N98/21362 (Unreported, Kelleghan , 28 March 2002). Note that most of the country information utilised was around five years old. More recent and more detailed evidence in a NAZ Foundation study of 124 Bangladeshi men who have sex with men documented, in direct contradiction to the Tribunal's repeated findings that Bangladesh is tolerant of male homosexual behaviour, widespread violence and harassment: See NAZ Foundation, ‘Social Justice, Human Rights and MSM’, Briefing Paper No 7, 2002, online at <http://www.nazfoundint.com/home.html> Papers, Essays & Reports, Briefing Papers, at 13 December 2002. See also the range of information collated in International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), Current Update Packet: Bangladesh, (2001).

A DFAT cable quoting an unnamed ‘highly-reliable lawyer’ who alleged that while homosexuals were technically ‘not tolerated’, ‘to my knowledge they do not suffer discrimination, ostracism, violence or death threats’ was relied on in RRT Reference N98/22311 (Unreported, Zelinka , 22 September 1998); RRT Reference N97/19504 (Unreported, Zelinka , 28 September 1998) and RRT Reference N97/18897 (Unreported, Kelleghan , 13 November 1998).

RRT Reference N94/06450 (Unreported, Fergus , 26 July 1996); RRT Reference N95/09584 (Unreported, Blair , 31 October 1996); RRT Reference N95/09483 (Unreported, Mathlin , 26 November 1997); RRT Reference N99/28440 (Unreported, Mathlin , 20 January 2000). Although three of these cases predate the negative ones, the cable was demonstrably available as it dates from 1995 and is on the RRT database: DFAT cable no. BI500123 of 25 September 1995 CISNET CX11474.

RRT Reference N95/09584 (Unreported, Blair , 31 October 1996); RRT Reference N95/09483 (Unreported, Mathlin , 26 November 1997); RRT Reference N99/28440 (Unreported, Mathlin , 20 January 2000).

Over a dozen decisions concerning applicants from China used virtually identical country information over a period of four years from 1996 to 1999. For discussion see Millbank , ‘Imagining Otherness’, above n 1.

The IGLHRC is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that seeks to defend and advance the human rights of all peoples and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status. See IGLRHC website <http://www.iglhrc.org> at 16 December 2002.

Mark Mantle, RRT Sydney, Head of Country Information Section, interview, 19 February 2002.