What the Federal Court decided
In EEN25 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2026] FCA 1600, decided on 27 October 2026, McDonald J dismissed an application for leave to appeal. The ART protection-review application had been made one day after the applicable time limit. The Court ordered costs of $6,500.
Deemed receipt, rather than later awareness
The refusal notification was sent by email on 4 October 2024. Section 494C(5) deemed receipt at the end of the transmission day. The applicant’s contention that he became aware of the refusal on 5 October did not change the statutory date. No evidence showed that the transmission had failed or been delayed. The judgment should not be read as removing the need to establish the conditions for valid notification in a different case.
Why the last day was 31 October
The preserved reg 4.31(2) period commenced on the day the applicant was taken to have received notification. Applying s 36(1) of the Acts Interpretation Act, the Court counted 4 October itself as day one, despite receipt being deemed at the end of that day. The 28th day was 31 October 2024. Simply adding 28 days after the email date would have produced the wrong result for this statutory wording.
Why the former provisions still applied
The refusal preceded the ART’s commencement on 14 October 2024. Item 20 of Schedule 16 to the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No 1) Act 2024 preserved the former time-for-application rules while allowing the application to be made to the ART. Lodging with the new Tribunal did not replace the preserved deadline with another period.
The deadline was not discretionary
Neither the ART, the FCFCOA nor the Federal Court in the leave proceeding could extend this merits-review period or treat the late application as properly made. That is distinct from whether an extension might be available for a separate court filing under another provision. The Court was not conducting a fresh merits assessment of the protection claims.
Practical implications
Obtain the original notification, the transmission record and the review-rights information immediately. Identify the legislation and transitional rules, check whether the triggering day is included, lodge before the final day and retain the ART receipt. Do not assume later opening, hardship, representative error, a weekend or a public holiday changes a deadline; check the particular statutory regime. See [15]–[27] for the calculation and transition, and [28]–[37] for the proposed grounds and absence of extension power.