Singh and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Social services second review)

Singh (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) to refuse to discharge or vary a direction previously made against him. The original direction, made under s 42A(2) of the *Social Security (Administration) Act 1999* (Cth) (the Act), had dismissed the applicant's application as frivolous or vexatious and directed him not to make further applications to the Tribunal without its leave. The applicant subsequently applied to have this direction discharged or varied, which the Tribunal refused. The matter came before the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal retained the power to revoke or vary a direction made under s 42A(2) of the Act, particularly after the repeal of s 42A(2) and the introduction of s 42AA. The applicant contended that the repeal of the express power to vary or revoke such directions meant that power no longer existed. The Court was required to consider the effect of the repeal and the application of the *Acts Interpretation Act 1901* (Cth) in determining whether the Tribunal's power had been extinguished.

The Court reasoned that the repeal of s 42A(2) and the introduction of s 42AA did not remove the Tribunal's power to revoke or vary a direction previously made under the former provision. Applying the principles of statutory interpretation, particularly s 7 of the *Acts Interpretation Act 1901*, the Court held that the repeal did not affect the continued operation of the direction or the Tribunal's inherent power to manage its own proceedings and to reconsider its previous decisions. The Court found that the Tribunal had correctly applied the law in refusing to discharge or vary the direction.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.