Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens welcome the creation of a new body to replace the AAT, especially given the political stacking by the former coalition government. It should never have been possible to appoint political mates, especially those without legal qualifications, to a federal tribunal responsible for hearing cases on social security and migration matters, which can often be literally life or death. Delays in the AAT are very real, and it is hoped that the new tribunal is not characterised by these in the same way. The Administrative Review Tribunal will be an extremely high-volume tribunal which will have an impact each year on tens of thousands of individuals and their families.

There are a number of defects with the legislation as drafted which we believe need to be remedied. This new body will be in place for decades and have broad jurisdiction to deal with critically important matters relating to people's rights and entitlements under federal law. We can't afford to rush it and get it wrong. The Greens are working to get it right and ensure this generational reform delivers for the community and prioritises justice, accessibility and integrity. We have worked with stakeholders, including the Centre for Public Integrity, to address the Administrative Review Tribunal Bill's provisions for fixing appointments to the new body to make these integrity measures mandatory rather than optional. This was a key ALP election promise regarding the new tribunal. It is extremely positive that, after significant public pressure and growing political opposition, government amendments will now go some way to address this. The Greens have consistently advocated for a proper review of the operation of the tribunal. We have been joined in this by numerous NGOs and engaged stakeholders. The government is now responding to that pressure and bringing amendments in to require such a review.

One of the core requirements for this bill is that it cannot cause harm, especially to some of the most vulnerable existing users of the AAT. As drafted, this bill does not meet the test by abolishing critical review rights for people on Centrelink. The Greens believe it is necessary to preserve the existing two-tier jurisdiction to resolve appeals from Centrelink and Services Australia. The existing two-tier review process is critical to provide a just remedy for some 10,000 to 12,000 of the most vulnerable applicants each year. The government has sought to move a large number of amendments on this issue, and our Senate team is working through them. While they appear to go some way towards reinstating the original two-tier review process, the drafting is opaque and it is unclear how they will achieve this goal in practice.

There remain multiple elements in this reform that provide unfair outcomes for refugee and migration cases in the new body. While there are some modest improvements to the existing law, such as the abolition of the IAA, it continues to have multiple unfair, non-discretionary time frames and unfair adverse inferences in this part of its jurisdiction. Assessing the real impact of these amendments is a complex task with an already incredibly lengthy and convoluted bill that has hundreds and hundreds of accompanying pages of text in the explanatory memorandum and transitional provisions.

As noted above, this is a generational reform and we need to take the time to ensure it is right. While supporting the bill and not opposing the amendments in this House, the Greens reserve their position in the Senate. To that end we will continue to be guided by the valuable input of stakeholders and two core principles—that this reform must leave no-one behind and must leave no door open for a future government to undermine its integrity.

See this speech in context