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Administrative Review Tribunal launches
The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) has officially commenced its operations to provide an “efficient, accessible, independent, and fair” avenue for Australians to seek justice, the Attorney-General says.
Grace Robbie
Today (14 October) marks the official launch of the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which has taken over from the former Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) as part of a significant overhaul of Australia’s administrative review system.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus stated that the commencement of ART “is the most significant reform to Australia’s administrative review system in decades”.
The newly established tribunal body will have the authority to examine rulings made under approximately 400 Commonwealth laws, including “immigration and citizenship, social security payments, child support, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and taxation”.
Dreyfus has declared that the ART is positioned to provide an “efficient, accessible, independent and fair” avenue for the tens of thousands of individuals who seek independent review of government decisions annually.
Michael Hawkins AM has been appointed as the first CEO and principal registrar of the ART, succeeding his previous role as registrar of the AAT. Additionally, the Honourable Justice Emilios Kyrou AO has been named the ART’s inaugural president.
The ART highlighted a significant change in the organisational structure, replacing ministerial appointments with a merit-based hiring process for anyone other than those who are already judges.
This change has led to the appointment of non-judicial members of the tribunal, including deputy presidents, senior members, and general members, through a rigorous and transparent selection process based on merit.
Dreyfus pointed out that the modern features incorporated in the newly launched ART “deliver a modern, fit-for-purpose tribunal that contributes to the Albanese government’s goal of restoring trust and confidence in government”.
The critical components of the ART include enhanced accessibility for users, a funding model that responds to demand and drives it, more adaptable procedures, greater consistency across various case types, mechanisms to escalate significant issues to administrative law and decision making effectively, and funding allocated for a new case management system.
At the inaugural sitting of the ART, A-G Dreyfus said: “A strong, user-focused administrative review body is critical to protecting the rights and interests of individuals, particularly the most vulnerable members of our community.
“The new ART will have a visible impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. It will deliver merits review fit for the 21st century and, together with the Administrative Review Council, will have a systemic effect on the quality and efficiency of government decision making to benefit the whole community.
“I am proud of the road we have travelled together to deliver what I hope will be acknowledged as one of the most important institutional reforms to both justice and public administration in decades.
“Today, we bid farewell to the AAT but not to the core principles it was founded on nearly half a century ago. We enter a new era of administrative review that is fit to serve us for decades to come.”
He further said: “When it comes to the quality of administrative decisions, we owe the Australian community not the bare minimum, but our very best. That is the legacy of the administrative law reforms of the 1970s, and it is the vision for the new Administrative Review Tribunal – one that is user-focused, efficient, accessible, independent and fair.”
The president of the ART, Justice Kyrou, said: “I want it to be known as a tribunal [that] has efficient, transparent and user-friendly processes.”
“I will work very hard to meet the public’s justifiably high expectations in the quality and speed of the tribunal’s decisions and the accessibility and responsiveness of its processes to the diverse needs of its users.
“I am confident that all members and staff of the tribunal will do the same and that we will succeed in meeting those expectations and earn the public’s trust and confidence.”
