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Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has announced today that the Albanese Government plans to abolish the AAT over the few years and replace it with a new body to deal with administrative appeals.
In the meantime, 75 additional tribunal members will be appointed to address the backlog of cases. There will also be $11.7m dedicated to an ‘single streamlined case management’ system over two years.
Very little is known at this stage about what the new body will look like. But the Attorney General did commit to it being ‘accessible, sustainable and trusted administrative review tribunal that serves the interests of the Australian people.’ He also said the new body would be properly funded and implied it would resolve cases in a more timely manner.
In explaining the decision, Dreyfus said:
‘The AAT’s public standing has been irreversibly damaged as a result of the actions of the former government over nine years. By appointing 85 former Liberal MPs, former Liberal staffers and other close Liberal associates without any merit-based selection process, including some individuals with no relevant experience or expertise, the former government fatally compromised the AAT, undermined its independence, and eroded the quality and efficiency of its decision-making.’
Dreyfus said that a central pillar of the new body is that there will be transparent merits-based appointment process.
