Administrative Review Tribunal Rules
16 August 2024
The Law Council recently lodged a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department in response to its public consultation on the draft Administrative Review Tribunal Rules.
This submission was informed by contributions from the Law Council’s Federal Administrative Law Reform Working Group, the Law Society of New South Wales, and the Law Society of Western Australia. We made preliminary comments about specific aspects of the draft Rules, including:
- proposing amendments to section 10 in respect of the Tribunal’s publication of election notices;
- querying the approach to the participation of non-participating parties in section 12;
- recommending that the Tribunal have discretion to take into account what is reasonable in the circumstances of the case when determining the fees to be paid to witnesses in sections 13 and 14;
- submitting that the powers in section 359A(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) should remain only with Tribunal members and should not be made available to Registrars, given that this section codifies the natural justice hearing rule;
- emphasising that there has been a significant missed opportunity to implement a more equitable and proportionate approach to application fees in the Tribunal, especially for certain applications made under the Migration Act; and
- suggesting that clarity be provided on the process for a party (or their representative) to seek the production of documents in court custody.
The Law Council will continue to engage with the Government to support its preparations for the commencement of the Administrative Review Tribunal on 14 October 2024.
Last Updated on 22/08/2024