Aboriginal Legal Service Ltd v Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs

This is an application for judicial review brought by the Aboriginal Legal Service ("ALS") against the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs ("the Minister") regarding directions given by the Minister to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission ("ATSIC"). The ALS challenged the validity of the directions on the basis that they were not "general directions" as required by s 12(1) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 (Cth) ("the Act"). The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that the directions were not valid as they were beyond the power conferred by s 12(1) of the Act. The Court found that the directions did not constitute "general directions" as they effectively allowed a third party, the Special Auditor, to determine whether a body was fit and proper to receive public money, thus overriding the decision-making power of ATSIC. The Court emphasised that a general direction should not remove elements of the exercise of a power that has been committed to a particular body and commit them to another person. The decision highlights the importance of maintaining the autonomy and discretion of the decision-making body, in this case ATSIC, and the need for general directions to be truly general and not specific to particular cases or decisions. The Court ordered that the directions were not "general directions" within the meaning of s 12(1) of the Act and were therefore invalid. The Minister was ordered to pay the ALS's costs.