The Court held that under s 19AP of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), the Attorney-General is required to have regard to the exceptional circumstances specified in a prisoner's written application (both individually and in combination), but is not obliged to consider any other matters — including factors analogous to those relevant to parole decisions under s 19ALA — unless those matters were themselves specified in the application as exceptional circumstances. The Court also held that where a prisoner receives multiple adverse comments letters clearly articulating the CPO's understanding of the specified grounds and does not dispute that articulation, the prisoner cannot later contend on judicial review that a different or additional ground was in fact specified. On the medical treatment ground, the Court found it could not be inferred that the delegate rejected the applicant's claim of inadequate treatment, as the delegate may have accepted the claim but simply not been satisfied it constituted an exceptional circumstance justifying release.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 1 later case that cites this judgment.