The Guidance and Appeals Panel is an important part of the Tribunal. It provides a way for us to escalate issues and ensure the quality of Tribunal decisions.
The Guidance and Appeals Panel can decide cases about issues that may have a wide impact on administrative decision-making. It can also decide cases where a Tribunal decision has been made and may contain a mistake affecting the outcome of our original review.
On this page
Referring a case to the Guidance and Appeals Panel
The President of the Tribunal may refer a case to the Guidance and Appeals Panel at any time if they decide the case may raise an issue of significance to administrative decision-making.
If you are a party to a finalised case for which you have received a Tribunal decision, and you are not happy with that decision, you may be able to ask the President to consider referring the case to the Guidance and Appeals Panel.
Decisions that cannot be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel
Not all Tribunal decisions can be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel.
Examples of some Tribunal decisions that cannot be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel include:
- certain decisions made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
- most migration decisions
- eligible social services decisions
- intelligence and security decisions.
Read the letter that you received with your Tribunal decision to find out if your decision is able to be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel or there are other options for appealing these decisions that may be available to you.
When to apply
You may be able to apply for your case to be to be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel after it has given reasons for its decision.
The letter you receive from the Tribunal containing the statement of reasons for the decision will tell you if you can ask the Guidance and Appeals Panel to review your case.
You must lodge your application within 28 days of the Tribunal giving reasons for its decision.
If there are special circumstances, the President may agree to give you more time to lodge your application.
How to apply
If you want to apply for a previous Tribunal decision to be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel please apply online. If you cannot access our online portal you can download our form to apply for a referral of a previous decision to the Guidance and Appeals Panel - second instance [PDF, 280 KB].
If you want to request an ongoing Tribunal case to be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel you can download our form to request for review by the Guidance and Appeals Panel [PDF, 508 KB].
Please contact us if you need assistance.
Fees
- If you did not have to pay a fee for your original application for review by the Tribunal, you will not have to pay a fee to apply for a referral to the Guidance and Appeals Panel.
- In all other cases, the standard Guidance and Appeals Panel referral application fee is $1,121. The fee must be paid to the Tribunal within 28 days of lodging your application for referral.
We may reduce your fee to $100 if you can show us you are experiencing financial hardship, or if certain other concessions apply to you.
Review process
After a case is referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel, we will allocate it to either a single member or a group of members.
The case will then be prepared for hearing.
Once the case has been decided, it may become a guidance decision if the case involved an issue of significance to administrative decision making. A guidance decision is a decision made by the Guidance and Appeals Panel which can be used to help other Tribunal members when they consider cases about similar issues.
Most decisions made by the Guidance and Appeals Panel will be published on AustLII and linked to our website.
Forms
Form | Reason to use |
---|---|
Request for review by the Guidance and Appeals Panel - first instance [PDF, 508 KB] | Request that an ongoing Tribunal case be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel. Do not use this form if the Tribunal case has been finalised. Apply online instead, or use the form in the row below |
Apply for a referral of a previous Tribunal decision to the Guidance and Appeals Panel - second instance [PDF, 280 KB] | If you cannot access the online portal to apply online, you can use this form to apply for a previous Tribunal decision to be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel |
Response to a request for review to the Guidance and Appeals Panel - first instance [PDF, 398 KB] | Respond to a request for review of an ongoing Tribunal case by the Guidance and Appeals Panel |
Response to an application for referral of a previous Tribunal decision to the Guidance and Appeals Panel - second instance [PDF, 448 KB] | Respond to an application for referral of a previous Tribunal decision by the Guidance and Appeals Panel |
Reply to a response to a Guidance and Appeals Panel application - first and second instances [PDF, 279 KB] | To reply to a Response to a Guidance and Appeals Panel request/application that opposes your request/application to the Guidance and Appeals Panel. Providing a reply is optional but you should use this template if you would like to provide one |
Response to an interlocutory appeal application - Guidance and Appeals Panel [PDF, 245 KB] | To respond to an interlocutory application lodged during an application for referral of a case to the Guidance and Appeals Panel - for example, a stay application, a request to provide in-person evidence or an extension of time |
Practice direction
Under section 36 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024, the President may make practice directions about a range of matters – including directions on operations and procedures, the conduct of proceedings, arrangement of business, as well as access to and responsiveness of the Tribunal.
The President has made the following practice direction in relation to the Guidance and Appeals Panel:
Want to apply for a referral to the Guidance and Appeals Panel?
The safest and easiest way to apply for a review of a previous Tribunal decision to be referred to the Guidance and Appeals Panel is by applying online.