Statement of Position – Agency Implementation of Court and Tribunal Decisions

The Administrative Review Council has published a Statement of Position to guide Australian Government agencies as to how they should respond to administrative review decisions made by courts and tribunals. The Council prepared the statement in response to a systemic issue raised by the President of the Administrative Review Tribunal.

The statement outlines the Council’s position that, as a matter of law, agencies must comply with decisions of courts and tribunals. If an agency disagrees with a decision about the interpretation of the law, it cannot ignore it. Instead, the agency can:

• appeal or seek review
• seek a stay of the decision
• pause processing other affected cases while any review or appeal is underway.

The Council explains that where these steps are not taken, agencies are expected to apply the law as determined by the court or tribunal.