New staff sought for AAT replacement body

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has started the search for members of the new Administrative Review Tribunal and is inviting qualified people to apply to serve for a term of up to five years.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has started the search for members of the new Administrative Review Tribunal and is inviting qualified people to apply to serve for a term of up to five years.

The ART will replace the Administrative Appeals Tribunal which the government will abolish through legislation to be introduced before the end of the year.

On Friday, the government said it had begun the recruitment process for Members, with candidates asked to lodge expressions of interest by October 23. Separate recruitment processes will be announced in the coming months for appointments at the Senior Member and Deputy President levels.

Justice Emilios Kyrou will lead the AAT through the transition and become the inaugural President of the ART.

The government said on Friday that current and former Members of the AAT who are interested in serving on the new ART were welcome to apply. It promised that a central feature of the new tribunal would be a “transparent, merit-based selection processes.”

The legislation to be introduced later this year will hand the ART “enhanced powers and procedures” so it can respond more flexibly to changing caseloads. It will also have a simplified membership structure with clear qualification requirements and role descriptions for each of the four levels of membership – President, Deputy President, Senior Member and Member.

There will be greater scope for the President to manage the performance, conduct and professional development of ART members and clear mechanisms for the ART to identify, escalate and report on systemic issues in administrative decision-making.

Appointments to the AAT have long been subjected to claims of political stacking. Former Liberal Attorney-General Michaelia Cash came under fire for making 19 appointments to the AAT just days out from the last election. Appointments included former West Australian Liberal minister Michael Mischin to the $500,000 role of AAT deputy president and ex-Liberal MPs Pru Goward and Peter Katsambanis.

Senator Cash would defend the appointments, arguing that the 19 new appointments were appropriately qualified.