Welcome to the Administrative Review Council

The role of the Administrative Review Council ‘is to ensure that our system of administrative review is as effective and significant in its protection of the citizen as it can be’.

RJ Ellicott QC
Attorney-General
15 December 1976 at the first meeting of the Council

The Council is ‘an effective body, providing useful and timely advice on administrative review matters’.

Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee Report on the Role and Functions of the Administrative Review Council, June 1997.

Launch of Best Practice Guides for administrative decision makers

On Friday, 10 August 2007, the Attorney-General launched the Administrative Review Council’s (ARC) series of Best Practice Guides for primary decision makers.

The launch saw the release of five Best Practice Guides written in plain and accessible language covering all key stages in the administrative decision-making process.

The subject areas covered by the Guides are:

Lawfulness

Natural Justice

Evidence, Facts and Findings

Reasons for Decisions

Accountability

The Guides are intended to assist primary decision makers and can be tailored to the specific needs of individual departments and agencies. The Council is keen to work collaboratively with departments and agencies in this regard.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), in partnership with the ARC, has already tailored three of the five Guides to assist decision makers within DIAC to make sound decisions in a pressured and time-critical environment. DIAC expects to release the other two Guides shortly.

If you would like further information on any of the Guides, or if you would like to discuss how they can be supplemented to meet the needs of your department or agency, please contact the Council Secretariat on (02) 6250 5800 or e-mail us at arc.can@ag.gov.au

30th Anniversary Issue of ‘Admin Review’

In recognition of the Administrative Review Council’s 30th anniversary, the ARC published a special edition of ‘Admin Review’, the administrative law bulletin published annually by the ARC. This edition of ‘Admin Review’ contains articles based on presentations made at the Council’s 30th anniversary seminar and other related articles. The theme of the seminar was ‘The Future of Administrative Law and the Challenges that Lie Ahead’. Contributors to this edition include the Hon Sir Anthony Mason, the Hon Philip Ruddock and Dr Peter Shergold, amongst others, and the subject matter ranges from consumer and business issues to judicial and international perspectives.