The Tribunal will on occasion livestream selected public hearings on our YouTube channel. This is part of our commitment to being transparent and accessible.  

The Tribunal livestreams selected hearings to promote public trust and confidence in the Tribunal, and improve the transparency of government decision-making by:  

• enabling members of the public, as non-parties, to observe proceedings approved for livestream without needing to request access and without impacting or disrupting proceedings  
• assisting media who are unable to attend hearings in person to ensure accurate reporting on proceedings  
• allowing schools, universities and others to share links to live Tribunal proceedings for educational purposes. 

The President of the Tribunal decides which public hearings are livestreamed and may delegate this responsibility to jurisdictional area leaders or presiding members.

The President or delegate may consider livestreaming proceedings for cases which are not subject to a confidentiality order or other presumption towards a private hearing. Cases must also meet one or more of the following criteria:

• it has been identified as a significant matter by the Tribunal
• it is a hearing of the Guidance and Appeals Panel which raises an issue of significance to administrative decision-making
• it is in the public interest.

We will generally livestream final hearings only, and will not livestream procedural hearings such as case management hearings and directions hearings. 

The presiding member and parties of a public hearing proposed to be livestreamed can object to the hearing being livestreamed.

We will notify parties if their matter has been identified for livestreaming and ask if they object to the livestream as soon as possible before the hearing. Parties can give any objections, including reasons, to the presiding member in writing or orally at a case event.

The presiding member will bring any objection by the parties to the President or authorised delegate so they can decide whether the proceedings will be livestreamed. If the presiding member is the delegate, they should consider any objection and determine whether the proceedings will be livestreamed. 

Members of the public can find out if a hearing will be livestreamed by visiting the Tribunal’s website.  

Livestreams are hosted on third-party platforms, Microsoft Teams and YouTube, in a way that prevents non-parties from liking, commenting on, or otherwise interacting with the livestream or parties to the hearing.  

The Tribunal does not provide technical or other support for non-parties to help them access YouTube or livestream links.  

The Tribunal may mute or suspend the livestream at any time to protect the welfare of the parties, witnesses or other people involved in the case, or for any other reason as determined by the Tribunal. The Tribunal may also decide at any time to not proceed with a livestream without notice and without reason. 

Livestreams are not considered to be official recordings of hearings by the Tribunal. The Tribunal will not retain, publish or release any recordings of livestreamed hearings made by YouTube.  

Members of the public are not permitted to record (including by taking a photograph, screenshot, audio and/or visual recording) or transmit livestreamed or any other public hearings on any device for any purpose unless expressly permitted by the Tribunal. Failure to comply may constitute an offence.  

Parties and non-parties can still access information about reviews in line with our existing guidance. 

When you join a livestream of a hearing, you are subject to the same conditions as if you were viewing a hearing in person. By clicking ‘play’ on the livestream, you agree to be bound by the following terms of use:  

• You are not allowed to record or transmit livestreamed or any other public hearings on any device for any purpose unless the Tribunal has given you written permission to so. This includes taking a photo, screenshot, and/or audio and/or visual recording.  
• The Tribunal may mute or suspend the livestream at any time without providing notice or reasons. It may do so, for example, to protect the welfare of the parties, witnesses or other people involved in the case.  
• If you do not comply with the terms of use, you might be committing an offence.  

Note that the Tribunal does not retain or provide recordings of livestreams.