THIRD ANNUAL REPORT 2008–09 - Administrative …Annual+Report+-… · · 2014-12-042 Thirty-third annual report: 2008–09 valuable role in the formulation of innovative policy

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW COUNCIL

THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT 2008–09

© Commonwealth of Australia 2009

This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

ISSN 0155-025X ISBN 978-1-921241-90-1

For information about this report, or more generally about the Council’s work, please contact:

Administrative Review Council c/o Attorney-General’s Department 3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600

Telephone: 02 6141 3055 Facsimile: 02 6141 3248 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.law.gov.au/arc

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW COUNCIL

1 October 2009

The Hon Robert McClelland MP Attorney-General Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600

Dear Attorney-General

On behalf of the members of the Administrative Review Council and in accordance with s. 58 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975, I have pleasure in presenting to you the annual report of the Administrative Review Council for the financial year ending 30 June 2009.

Yours sincerely

Jillian Segal AM President

Jillian Segal AM Justice Garry Downes AM Professor John McMillan Professor David Weisbrot AM Ian Carnell Professor Robin Creyke Andrew Metcalfe Linda Pearson Dr Melissa Perry QC Brigadier Bill Rolfe AO (rtd) Roger Wilkins AO

3-5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 Telephone: 02 6141 3055 Facsimile: 02 6141 3248 Email: [email protected]

Internet: law.gov.au/arc

The Administrative Review Council & the Attorney-General the Hon Robert McClelland MP, 2008

From Left to Right:

Robert Cornall AO, Dr Melissa Perry QC, Brigadier Bill Rolfe AO (rtd), The

Hon Robert McClelland MP (Attorney-General), Jillian Segal AM

(President), Ian Carnell, Professor Robin Creyke, Linda Pearson,

Justice Garry Downes AM, Professor John McMillan, Barbara Belcher

Absent (below):

Professor David Weisbrot AM, Andrew Metcalfe, Peter Anderson

Thirty-third annual report: 2008–09 v

Contents

1 Overview ............................................................................................................... 1 Establishment of the Council .............................................................................. 1 Statutory Functions & Powers ............................................................................ 1 Membership of the Council................................................................................. 2

2 The work and performance of the Council..................................................... 5 Achievements in 2008–09..................................................................................... 5 Publications ........................................................................................................... 8

3 Management and accountability ...................................................................... 9 Changes to the Council’s Secretariat.................................................................. 9 Personnel & Administrative Functions ............................................................. 9 Council expenditure ........................................................................................... 10 Consultancy services & Advertising................................................................ 10 Freedom of information..................................................................................... 10

Appendix A Section 51 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act ............... 13

Appendix B Reports and guidelines issued by the Council ............................... 15

Appendix C The Council’s expenditure, 2008–09.................................................. 18

Thirty-third annual report: 2008–09 1

1 Overview

Establishment of the Council

The Administrative Review Council is an independent statutory body provided for under Part V of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975. The Administrative Review Council itself is established under s. 48 of that Act.

The Council commenced operation in 1976. Since that time it has produced 49 reports, a number of guides promoting best practice and many letters of advice, within the administrative law framework, in response to an evolving government and community priorities. Administrative law is concerned with the interaction between government and its citizens. An essential part of the Council’s role is to promote knowledge and contribute to the discussion of administrative law matters, reinforcing the core administrative values of lawfulness, fairness, rationality, openness and efficiency. New themes continue to arise and the Council’s influence is often most effectively achieved through its educative role and constructive engagement with both the public and private sector.

Statutory Functions & Powers

The statutory functions of the Administrative Review Council are set out in section 51 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act at Appendix A. The responsible Minister is the Attorney-General, who may give directions to the Council in relation to the performance of its functions or the exercise of its powers (s. 51A of the Act) and may refer matters to the Council for inquiry and report (s. 51B of the Act). The Council reports to the Attorney-General (s. 51C).

Among other functions, the Council is required to keep the Commonwealth administrative law system under review and to recommend to the Attorney-General improvements that might be made to the system. It is also required to assess the adequacy of procedures used in exercising administrative discretions and review classes of decisions to determine if they should be subject to administrative review. It is in fulfilment of these review and monitoring functions that many of the Council’s reflective reports are focussed; often commenting on developments which have not previously been the subject of formal analysis or guidance.

The Council is primarily an independent law reform and advisory body. It also has an important educative role promoting knowledge about the Commonwealth administrative law system by publishing reports and guides designed to contribute to the discussion of administrative law matters, within government and more widely, and helping promote better primary decision making. It has a

2 Thirty-third annual report: 2008–09

valuable role in the formulation of innovative policy with respect to administrative developments. In recent times, the idea has emerged of oversight agencies forming part of an Integrity Sector. The Council sees itself as part of such a sector.

The Council is required to furnish an annual report to the Attorney-General for presentation to the Parliament as soon as practicable after 30 June each year. The report is required to be tabled within 15 sitting days of its receipt by the Attorney-General (s. 58 of the Act).

Membership of the Council

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act provides that the Council must consist of the President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the President of the Australian Law Reform Commission and up to 10 appointed members1. Members of the Council are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the federal Attorney-General.

The President

The President of the Council is appointed by the Governor-General (s. 49 of the Act). On 15 September 2005 Jillian Segal AM was first appointed President of the Council for three years. Ms Segal was re-appointed on 3 October 2008 for a one year term.

Ex officio members

At the end of the reporting period the three ex officio Council members were the:

President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the Hon Justice Garry Downes AM

Commonwealth Ombudsman,

President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, Professor David Weisbrot AM.

1 Regulation 22 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Regulations 1976 prescribes 11 members in accordance with s 49 (1)(d)(ii) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975.

Professor John McMillan


Appointed members

Council members are appointed by the Governor-General (s. 49 of the Act). Appointments are for up to three years, and members are eligible for reappointment (s. 52 of the Act). To qualify for appointment to the Council, members must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

• extensive experience at a high level in industry, commerce, public administration, industrial relations, the practice of a profession or the service of a government or an authority of government

• extensive knowledge of administrative law or public administration

• direct experience and direct knowledge of the needs of people or groups of people significantly affected by government decisions (s. 50 of the Act).

In addition to the President of the Council, the following appointed members formed part of the Council for all or part of the reporting period:

Peter Anderson, Chief Executive, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – 11 July 2005 – 10 July 2008

Barbara Belcher, First Assistant Secretary, Government Division, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet –17 March 2006 – 16 March 2009

Ian Carnell, Inspector General of Intelligence and Security – 11 July 2005 – 22 March 2007 and 26 April 2007 – 25 April 2010

Robert Cornall AO, former Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department – 7 June 2000 – 6 June 2003, 25 June 2003 – 24 June 2006 and 25 June 2006 – 24 June 2009

Professor Robin Creyke, Professor of Law, Australian National University – 8 December 1999 – 7 December 2002, 8 December 2002 – 7 December 2005 and 15 February 2006 – 14 February 2009*

Andrew Metcalfe, Secretary, Department of Immigration and Citizenship – 17 July 2003 – 16 July 2006 and 17 July 2006 – 16 July 2009

Linda Pearson, Senior Lecturer, University of NSW – 3 October 2008 – 2 October 2009

Dr Melissa Perry QC, barrister – 13 April 2006 – 12 April 2009*


Brigadier Bill Rolfe AO (rtd), Repatriation Commissioner, Department of Veterans’ Affairs – 4 October 2007 – 3 October 2010

*At the end of the reporting period both Professor Robin Creyke and Dr Melissa Perry QC

were in the process of being re-appointed to the Council.

Changes to Membership

The Council wishes to express its thanks to Peter Anderson, Barbara Belcher and Robert Cornall, whose terms concluded during the reporting period, for their valuable contributions to the work of the Council. Ian Carnell has advised the Council that he will be stepping down from the Council in December 2009 and the President has also advised that she will be stepping down at the conclusion of her current term in October 2009.


2 The work and performance of the Council

Achievements in 2008–09

The Complex Business Review

On 28 November 2008 the Attorney-General launched the Council’s report on Administrative Accountability in Business Areas Subject to Complex and Specific Regulation. The Complex Business Review Report focuses on accountability and transparency in the development of business rules including non-legislative ‘soft law’ business rules. It provides a useful framework for administrative review mechanisms for government agencies, industry and other non-government entities involved in business regulation. The report encompasses business rules or regulation across the spectrum of black letter law as well as ‘soft law’ guidelines and codes.

The Council was presented with terms of reference by the former Attorney-General in 2006 and was invited to have regard to ‘the circumstances in which administrative review mechanisms should be available’ and ‘the adaptations, if any, that may be desirable to merits review processes to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of such processes in areas of complex and specific business regulation’. The Council was also invited ‘to consider the potential for the development of a framework of guideline principles for administrative review, including merits review, in areas of complex business regulation’.

An interim report was presented in September 2007 and in February 2008 the Council finalised an issues paper, ‘Administrative accountability in areas where business activities are subject to complex regulation’, which was used as the basis for three stakeholder forums and a number of follow-up meetings with agencies and other interested parties. In July 2008 the Council publicly released a working draft of its report on its website and circulated the draft to stakeholders for comment. The final report was tabled by the Attorney-General on 27 November 2008.

Guide to Standards of Behaviour for Tribunal Members

At the end of the reporting period, the Council was finalising its update to its 2001 publication A Guide to Standards of Conduct for Tribunal Members. The Guide has been most popular with a wide diversity of Tribunals and, given its ongoing relevance, the Council has written to a number of selected bodies seeking feedback on their use of the Guide as well as suggestions for improvement.


Admin Review

At the time of reporting the Council was preparing the 59th edition of its administrative law bulletin, Admin Review. This issue will present current issues with the administrative law system from the perspective of a range of people, among them academics, legal practitioners, administrators and business users. The Council expects that Admin Review No.59 will be published in the latter half of 2009.

Consultation with the Attorney-General's Department

The Attorney-General has asked the Council to work more closely with the Government to provide specific advice and to assess policy options for enhancing the administrative law and civil justice system. The Council has been consulted in the development of a Strategic Framework for Access to Justice in the Federal Civil Justice System.

The Council has also provided expert advice to the Department in its development of proposals to simplify judicial review across the Australian Administrative Law system.

Advice and submissions to government

The Council regularly provides advice on a range of administrative law and policy questions to government departments and agencies and responds to public inquiries into matters that affect the Commonwealth administrative law system. It continues to emphasise this role—and particularly its early involvement in the process—because it considers that better policy outcomes are achievable in this way.

In 2008-09, the Council provided one formal letter of advice (compared to six in 2007-08). That advice, and three letters of advice provided in the previous reporting period are not yet able to be published, due to their proximity to the deliberations of government.

Education and training

As noted, during the reporting year the Council continued to emphasise the need for its early involvement in the development of administrative law policy. It is firmly of the view that early involvement fosters positive outcomes—from the perspectives of both government and the Council—and leads to improved understanding and implementation of best practice in the application of administrative law.

The Council places a strong emphasis on its educative role. Illustrative of this is the publication of curriculum guidelines for legal training of primary decision makers and its series of best-practice guides for administrative decision makers.


In August 2007 the Council published a series of five guides that provide practical advice on best practice in administrative decision making. The guides deal with lawfulness; natural justice; evidence; facts and findings; reasons; and accountability. Their purpose is to help primary decision makers understand the legal and administrative framework in which they operate.

Although the guides are valuable in their own right, their generic quality allows them to be tailored to the needs of particular departments and agencies; that is, they can be supplemented with highlighted references to agency policies, practices and legislative frameworks. A number of agencies have now taken the opportunity to adapt the guides in this way. Throughout the reporting year the Council continued to work with a number of government agencies, including the Department of Defence and Comcare, for the purpose of annotating the Council’s five Best Practice Guides on administrative decision making.

The Council continues to receive a steady stream of requests for the best-practice guides. To date, the Council has circulated around 1,300 copies of the guides to interested parties. The guides are available on the Council’s website and the Council encourages the downloading of the best-practice guides as a package, from the website.

Feedback from agencies indicate that the guides are a quality tool to assist in

training decision makers and make a valuable contribution to the improvement of primary decision making.

The Council continues its practice of providing free copies of its reports and other publications to educational institutions, libraries, academics and students in Australia and elsewhere. It sees this as one way of participating in academic debate associated with administrative law, both within government and in the broader community.

Council Meetings

The Council meets formally four times each year and convenes informally as necessary, at the sub-committee level, in relation to its current projects. During 2008–09 Council meetings were held on 22 August 2008, 28 November 2008, 13 March 2009 and 15 May 2009.

The website

The website is an important window for the Council because it provides information about the Council, details of Council membership and the text of letters of advice and other submissions. Since the Council’s secretariat was withdrawn, the Attorney General’s Department is responsible for updating the website.

There were 72 147 visits to the Council’s website in 2008–09, averaging 147 visits per day. The majority of visits were from the United States which recorded


42, 678 visits over the reporting period, followed by Australia which recorded 13, 420 visits.

Other initiatives

The Council works to maintain links with others with an interest and involvement in administrative law, both overseas and at the state and territory level. It maintains a close association with the Council of Australasian Tribunals. The Council from time to time contributes to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s journal Reform, to Adjust, the online publication of the British Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council, and has contributed this year to a background paper prepared for the Attorney-General’s annual meeting with non-government organisations.

Publications

Reports, consultation papers and other publications

The Council has published 49 reports, discussing many aspects of the Commonwealth’s administrative law and decision-making system. See Appendix B for a full list of Council publications. Publication of these reports has often been preceded by distribution of one or more consultation papers. The Council’s reports invariably contribute to debate and discussion in the area of administrative law. The Council places considerable emphasis on engaging with relevant departments and agencies in this regard.

The Council also produces guidelines for agencies, decision makers, tribunals and legislators. For example, its Practical Guidelines for Preparing Statements of Reasons, which was revised in 2002, provides assistance for decision makers when they are preparing their reasons for a decision. Another of the Council’s guideline publications—the 1999 What Decisions Should Be Subject to Merits Review?—can be used when assessing whether the Administrative Appeals Tribunal should be given statutory jurisdiction to review a particular type of decision.

The impact of the Council’s reports and other publications extends much further than the Commonwealth administrative law system. Information and recommendations presented in these publications are often turned to by other bodies. There is continuing demand for the Council’s Best Practice Guides and 2001 publication A Guide to Standards of Conduct for Tribunal Members (which is in the process of being updated) and for earlier reports, most notably Better Decisions: review of Commonwealth Merits Review Tribunals and What Decisions Should Be Subject to Merits Review?


3 Management and accountability

Changes to the Council’s Secretariat

While the Council is created by statute, it is not a separate agency for the purposes of the Public Service Act 1999 and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. The Council was previously assisted in its work by a small secretariat, the members of which were employed by the Attorney-General’s Department under the Public Service Act 1999. In early 2009 dedicated Secretariat resources were withdrawn and assistance is now provided by the Administrative Law Branch of the Attorney-General’s Department. This change was in the context of the Attorney-General asking the Council to focus for the present on an advisory role, assisting the Department by giving expert input to the Department on matters of current Government priority. At the end of the reporting year, the Council was of the view that it was unable to initiate new projects pursuant to s 51 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act as a result of the changed administrative arrangements. No referrals have been made to the Council under s 51B of this Act in this reporting period.

The Council would like to take this opportunity to recognise the significant contribution of Margaret Harrison-Smith, Executive Director of the Council’s Secretariat from mid July 2002 to the end of 2008.

Personnel & Administrative Functions

The Council’s personnel and administrative functions are performed by the Attorney-General’s Department. The Council uses the policy and resources of the Attorney-General’s Department in relation to occupational health and safety. Information about the Department’s policy is available in its annual report.

Information about the Department’s management and human resources policies and practices—including certified agreements and Australian workplace agreements, training and development strategies and outcomes, occupational health and safety, and productivity gains—can be found in the Department’s annual report at <www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/PublicationsAnnual_Reports>.


Council expenditure

The Council is funded from the budget of the Attorney-General’s Department. The Department has sole responsibility for the Council’s budget allocation and expenditure and accordingly, publishes its audited financial statements in the Department’s annual report. The Council’s statement of expenditure for 2008–09 is presented in Appendix C.

In brief, the Council was allocated by the Attorney-General's Department $403 037 for the 2008–09 year, which compares with $449 147 allocated in 2007–08. During the reporting period $345 828 was spent on Council matters, of which $317 431 was paid in salaries and allowances and $28 397 in costs; the corresponding expenditures for 2007–08 were $488 670, of which $394 159 was paid in salaries and allowances and $94 511 in costs.

Consultancy services & Advertising

There were no consultancies during the reporting period and the Council was not involved in any advertising or market research activity.

Freedom of information

The Council is an agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. It received no requests for access to documents during the reporting year.

Section 8 of the FOI Act requires that agencies publish specific information. The Council’s statutory functions are set out in Appendix A of this annual report; the other information required by s. 8 follows.

Arrangements for outside participation in the work of the Council

The Council’s issues papers and discussion papers, which precede some of its reports, are distributed for comment and are generally available on the Council’s website or on request. Final reports are made available to the public after they have been tabled in Parliament. The papers and reports are also circulated to those with a particular interest in the subject matter, including all state and territory bar associations and law societies, tribunals and universities.

Categories of documents held by the Council

The Council maintains the following categories of documents:

• annual reports, project reports, issues and discussion papers, guidelines documents, and the administrative law bulletin Admin Review

• letters of advice prepared by the Council


• minutes of Council meetings and documents placed before meetings

• research notes and papers compiled by the Council’s Secretariat

• submissions

• correspondence and documents relating to internal administration and management.

Access to documents

The Council’s reports are available from the Council’s website <www.law.gov.au/arc>.

All project issues and discussion papers and guidelines documents, as well as Admin Review, are available from the Attorney-General’s Department and can be inspected on request. When large numbers of a particular publication are requested, a small charge is imposed to cover the cost of publication and distribution.

Letters of advice are listed in the annual report and published on the Council’s website. Minutes of Council meetings and documents placed before the meetings are held by the Attorney-General’s Department.

It is the Council’s policy to make available copies of submissions received as part of its consultation processes in all but two circumstances:

• The person making a submission specifically requests that the confidentiality provisions of the FOI Act apply to their submission.

• There are strong reasons for not disclosing the information in a submission—for example, if the submission contains personal information about an individual.

All other documents are kept on file and access to them can be sought under the FOI Act. If it is possible to release such information, it is the Council’s policy to do so. The Council will assist people seeking access to information to identify the documents in question.


Appendix A Section 51 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act

Section 51 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 describes the functions and powers of the Administrative Review Council:

51(1) The functions of the Council are:

(aa) to keep the Commonwealth administrative law system under review, monitor developments in administrative law and recommend to the Minister improvements that might be made to the system; and

(ab) to inquire into the adequacy of the procedures used by authorities of the Commonwealth and other persons who exercise administrative discretions or make administrative decisions, and consult with and advise them about those procedures, for the purpose of ensuring that the discretions are exercised, or the decisions are made, in a just and equitable manner; and

(a) to ascertain, and keep under review, the classes of administrative decisions that are not the subject of review by a court, tribunal or other body;

(b) to make recommendations to the Minister as to whether any of those classes of decisions should be the subject of review by a court, tribunal or other body and, if so, as to the appropriate court, tribunal or other body to make that review;

(c) to inquire into the adequacy of the law and practice relating to the review by the courts of administrative decisions and to make recommendations to the Minister as to any improvements that might be made in that law or practice;

(d) to inquire into:

(i) the qualification required for membership of authorities of the Commonwealth, and the qualifications required by other persons, engaged in the review of administrative decisions; and

(ii) the extent of the jurisdiction to review administrative decisions that is conferred on those authorities and other persons; and


(iii) the adequacy of the procedures used by those authorities and other persons in the exercise of that jurisdiction;

and to consult with and advise those authorities and other persons about the procedures used by them as mentioned in subparagraph (iii) and recommend to the Minister any improvements that might be made in respect of any of the matters referred to in subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii); and

(e) to make recommendations to the Minister as to the manner in which tribunals engaged in the review of administrative decisions should be constituted;

(f) to make recommendations to the Minister as to the desirability of administrative decisions that are the subject of review by tribunals other than the Administrative Appeals Tribunal being made the subject of review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; and

(g) to facilitate the training of members of authorities of the Commonwealth and other persons in exercising administrative discretions or making administrative decisions; and

(h) to promote knowledge about the Commonwealth administrative law system; and

(i) to consider, and report to the Minister on, matters referred to the Council by the Minister.

(2) The Council may do all things necessary or convenient to be done for or in connection with the performance of its functions.

(3) If the Council holds an inquiry, or gives any advice, referred to in paragraph (1)(ab), the Council must give the Minister a copy of any findings made by the Council in the inquiry or a copy of the advice, as the case may be.


Appendix B Reports and guidelines issued by the Council

Reports

The following reports have been published by the Administrative Review Council since 1976. All reports are available on the Council’s website. A number of the reports are preceded by discussion or issues papers and these are generally available on request. The reports are listed below in year order, starting with the most recent.

49 Administrative Accountability in Business Areas Subject to Complex and Specific Regulation 2008

48 The Coercive Information-gathering Powers of Government Agencies 2008

47 The Scope of Judicial Review 2006

46 Automated Assistance in Administrative Decision Making 2004

45 A Report on the Council of Australasian Tribunals 2002

44 Internal Review of Agency Decision Making 2000

43 Administrative Review of Patents Decisions 1998

42 The Contracting Out of Government Services 1998

41 Appeals from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to the Federal Court 1997

40 Open Government: a review of the federal Freedom of Information Act 1982 1995

39 Better Decisions: review of Commonwealth Merits Review Tribunals 1995

38 Government Business Enterprises and Commonwealth Administrative Law 1995

37 Administrative Review and Funding Decisions—a case study of community services programs 1994

36 Environmental Decisions and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 1994

35 Rule Making by Commonwealth Agencies 1992


34 Access to Administrative Review by Members of Australia’s Ethnic Communities 1991

33 Review of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act: statements of reasons for decisions 1991

32 Review of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act—the ambit of the Act 1989

31 Review of Decisions under Industry Research and Development Legislation 1988

30 Access to Administrative Review: provision of legal and financial assistance in administrative law matters 1988

29 Constitution of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 1987

28 Review of Customs and Excise Decisions: stage three—anti-dumping and countervailing duty decisions 1987

27 Access to Administrative Review: stage one—notification of decisions and rights of review 1986

26 Review of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act: stage one 1986

25 Review of Migration Decisions 1985

24 Review of Customs and Excise Decisions: stage four—censorship 1985

23 Review of Customs and Excise Decisions: stage two 1985

22 The Relationship between the Ombudsman and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 1985

21 The Structure and Form of Social Security Appeals 1984

20 Review of Pension Decisions under Repatriation Legislation 1983

19 Rights of Review under the Migration Act 1958 and Related Legislation: interim report on the constitution of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 1983

18 Compensation (Commonwealth Government Employees) Act 1971—amendments 1983

17 Review of Taxation Decisions by Boards of Review 1983

16 Review of Decisions under the Broadcasting and Television Act 1942 – 1982

15 Australian Federal Police Act 1979—sections 38 & 39 – 1982


14 Land Use in the ACT 1981

13 Commonwealth Employees’ Compensation Tribunal 1981

12 Australian Broadcasting Tribunal Procedures 1981

11 Student Assistance Review Tribunals 1981

10 Shipping Registration Bill 1980

9 Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Amendment Bill 1980 – 1980

8 Social Security Appeals 1980

7 Citizenship Review and Appeals System 1980

6 Entry to Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island 1979

5 Defence Force Ombudsman 1979

4 Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975—amendments 1979

3 Review of Import Control and Customs By-Law Decisions 1979

2 Repatriation Appeals 1979

1 Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977—exclusions under section 19 – 1978

Guidelines

The Council has also published guidelines for use by agencies, decision makers, tribunals and legislators, as follows:

• Five best-practice guides for administrative decision makers 2007

• Legal Training for Primary Decision Makers: a curriculum guideline 2004

• A Guide to Standards of Conduct for Tribunal Members 2001 – currently being updated

• Internal Review of Agency Decision Making—a best practice guide 2000

• Commentary on the Practical Guidelines for Preparing Statements of Reasons 2000, revised 2002

• Practical Guidelines for Preparing Statements of Reasons 2000, revised 2002

• What Decisions Should Be Subject to Merits Review? 1999.


Appendix C The Council’s expenditure, 2008–09

The table below shows the Council’s expenditure for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.

Item/description Allocation

($) Expenditure

($)

1. Salaries and payments in the nature of salary* 364 590 317 431

Sitting fees 9 243

2. Expenses 38 447 28 397

External conferences and courses (training) 2 388

Catering 1 837

Printing 9 355

Stores and stationery 867

Travel 6 881

Travel allowances 3 692

Casual car and taxi hire 2 752

Consultancy 0

Total 403 037 345 828

* From July 2008 until December 2008 this includes the cost of a separate secretariat and from January 2009 this

includes a calculation of time spent by staff in the Attorney-General's Department in supporting the Council.

Documents

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT 2008–09 - Administrative …Annual+Report+-… · · 2014-12-042 Thirty-third annual report: 2008–09 valuable role in the formulation of innovative policy