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Since the mid-1970s, Australia has developed a system of administrative review that is both comprehensive and integrated, balancing the provision of justice for the individual citizen, against the interests of the Government in implementing the programs and policies for which it was elected. The Administrative Review Council is an integral part of that system.

The Federal system of administrative review plays two fundamental roles:

it improves the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of government decision-making, and
it enables individuals to test the lawfulness and the merits of decisions which affect them.

Its key elements are as follows:

judicial review of the actions of Commonwealth officers by the High Court under section 75(v) of the Constitution , and by the Federal Court, under section 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903,
a codified and simplified system of judicial review of the lawfulness of most statutory administrative decisions under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 ('AD(JR) Act');
a requirement that reasons be given for most administrative decisions covered by the AD(JR) Act,
a system of merits review by independent tribunals, and in particular by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ('AAT'), of many statutory administrative decisions, together with a requirement to provide reasons for such decisions. Internal merits review may also be conducted by the agency responsible for the decision,
an Ombudsman to investigate complaints of government maladministration,
broad rights of access to government-held documents, and a right for an individual to update or correct government-held personal information, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 ('FOI Act') , and
regulation of the use and storage of information about individuals through the Privacy Act 1988 and the Archives Act 1983. A more detailed outline is available on the Overview of the Commonwealth System of Administrative Review page.

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