Parliament recently passed the Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Act 2026 which makes changes to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 and the Migration Act 1958.  

The changes to the Migration Act mean that the Tribunal must make decisions about reviews of student visa refusals without holding an oral hearing.  

The amendments to the Administrative Review Tribunal Act also allow the Tribunal to make decisions without holding a hearing for some other types of cases.  

Except in very limited circumstances, your review will be decided without a hearing. This means that the Tribunal member will decide the review based only on written materials.

The exception is student visa refusal matters that were refused on the basis of public interest criteria or special return criteria. These reviews may still have a hearing. 

Yes, if we have already notified you about your hearing or case event, it will still take place. Please read the information we have given you to prepare for your hearing or case event. There is information about what happens after you apply on our website. 

If your review of a student visa refusal was constituted to a Tribunal member before 1 June 2026, you might be invited to a hearing. In most cases if your review was not constituted to a Tribunal member before 1 June 2026, you will not have a hearing.

Constituted means we have assigned a member to decide your case.

You do not need to contact us about your review. We will contact you about next steps for your review, including if you will have a hearing.  

Most reviews (apart from reviews of student visa refusals) will proceed to a case event with a Tribunal registrar and/or a hearing with a Tribunal member. However, the Tribunal can make a decision without a hearing in certain circumstances.

Find more information about what happens after you apply. 

The aim of these changes is to allow the Tribunal to more flexibly manage its increasing caseload.  

We publish information about current processing times for migration and protection reviews. 

You can add more documents for most case types by using our online services, or by post, email or in person. 

Yes, you can still have a representative to help you prepare your application and any documents or evidence you provide to us.  

A representative can:

• communicate with us on your behalf
• give us written evidence and written submissions on your behalf
• request access to documents relating to the review.

You can also arrange for someone to receive correspondence on your behalf. This person is called an authorised recipient.  

If you appoint a representative in relation to your review, we will assume you are authorising that person to receive correspondence/documents on your behalf.

We have put together some resources to help you find a legal representative depending on your case type. 

All documents and evidence sent to the Tribunal must be in English. This includes Auslan recordings, and written and verbal submissions from people who don’t speak English.  

If you give the Tribunal evidence in another language or in Auslan, you must have it translated into English. An accredited translator must do this. If your evidence isn’t in English and doesn't have a certified translation, the Tribunal might not accept it. 

No, the relevant application fee for your case type applies whether or not there is a hearing.