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Many, but not all, hearings at the Tribunal are open to the public to attend as observers.
Members of the public can usually attend hearings in person by coming to one of our registries.
There are different arrangements for members of the public who want to attend public hearings by phone or video link. We sometimes also livestream public hearings on our YouTube channel.
Hearings that are usually public
Tribunal hearings are open to the public unless a law requires that they are held in private or the presiding member decides that all or part of the hearing is to be held in private.
The types of hearings that must be in private include those about:
- protection (refugee) visas
- some tax decisions
- Centrelink payments
- child support.
Observing a public hearing by livestream
We livestream some public hearings. You don’t need to ask us for permission to view a livestreamed hearing, but you must comply with our terms of use. In particular, you are not allowed to record or transmit a livestreamed hearing on any device for any purpose unless expressly permitted by the Tribunal.
To find out which hearings are being livestreamed and access the livestreaming links, refer to our daily listings of public hearings.
Attending a public hearing by phone or video conference
We publish a list of hearings and other listings that will be held each day.
If you want to attend a listed hearing that is not being livestreamed, send an email to reviews@art.gov.au before 8am (local time in the place of the hearing) giving us:
- your name
- your contact telephone number
- the case number for the hearing you want to attend
- if you want to join a video hearing by telephone or by video link.
Please include the words ‘Request to attend hearing’ and the case number in the subject line of your email.
If you are an authorised media representative and want to attend any hearing, please email media@art.gov.au with your request as above.
We ask for these details so we can action your request and contact you about the hearing if we need to. We may give your name to other people attending the hearing, some of whom might be located overseas. If you do not give us your name, the presiding member might take this into account in deciding whether the hearing should be in private.
Read our privacy policy for more information, including how you can access and ask us to correct personal information we hold about you, how to make a complaint about the way we have handled your personal information, and how we deal with such a complaint.
We will check if the hearing is open to the public and if it is being held by telephone or video link. We will tell you if the hearing is private and you can't attend.
If the hearing is open to the public, we will send you instructions about how to join.
If the hearing is by video, we will send you a Microsoft Teams link to join.
You are responsible for any costs you incur to attend the hearing, including data or telephone charges.
The Tribunal will admit you to the hearing. We will then usually identify all persons who are present, including you.
Sometimes a party will ask the Tribunal to hold the hearing in private after the public hearing has begun. If you are not present while this is discussed and the presiding member decides the hearing is to be in private, we will contact you to tell you this.
To avoid disturbing the hearing, you must:
- remain silent if attending in person
- mute any microphone and keep your camera turned off if attending online.
You must not record the hearing or take any screenshots.
We reserve the right to remove you from a hearing if:
- the presiding member decides that the hearing, or a part of the hearing, is to be in private
- you disturb the hearing in any way, or
- the technology becomes unstable.