LAWS7998 Tribunals – Procedure and Practice

The creation and proliferation of administrative tribunals – bodies that adjudicate a wide range of disputes between community members and the state – is a significant feature of the past fifty years in Australia and beyond. This course aims to examine; how tribunals operate in the twilight world between the executive branch of the state and the judiciary in Australia, to analyse the principles that govern the functioning of tribunals and explore the challenges facing lawyers, decision-makers and the users of tribunals. Comparisons will be drawn with other systems of merits review in the common law world. The course will be delivered by academics and practitioners with considerable experience of Tribunal adjudication.

Associate Professor Peter Billings

Fellow – The Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, Director – UQ Pro Bono Centre, T.C. Beirne School of Law.

Past Guest Lecturers

Kerrie O’Callaghan

Kerrie O'Callaghan is a Senior Member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

Clare Endicott

Clare Endicott is a Senior Member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

Philip E. Hack S.C.

Deputy President, Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Brisbane (2006-2015)

Philip Hack took office as a Deputy President on 9 January 2006 after a career as a barrister in private practice extending over some 23 years. He was appointed Senior Counsel in and for the State of Queensland on 1 December 2000. Deputy President Hack had a broad practice at the Bar, successfully undertaking both criminal and criminal appellate work, as well as general civil, commercial, insolvency, revenue and public law cases at both trial and appellate level.

Topics covered include:

concept of administrative justice
Australian model of statutory tribunals and their role in the governmental system
administrative law principles governing tribunals
structural elements of tribunal adjudication: membership, independence and expertise
operation of tribunals (including; access to justice, pre-hearing issues, evidential rules, onus of proof, cost and timeliness)
The Conduct of Hearings - tribunals and their users
jurisdiction-specific matters: including the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal