EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL REGULATIONS (AMENDMENTS
Statutory Rules 1987 No. 181
Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General
Sub-section 70(1) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Sub-section 70(2) of the Act provides that, without limiting the generality of sub-section (1), the regulations may make provision prescribing fees to be payable in respect of applications to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal), and providing for the refund, in whole or part, of fees so paid where the proceeding terminates in a manner favourable to the applicant. The sub-section further provides that regulations prescribing fees may prescribe fees in respect of a particular class or classes of applications only and prescribe different fees in respect of different classes of applications.
These regulations amend the principal regulations. The purpose of the regulations is to increase to $240 the fee of $200 formerly payable in respect of applications to the Tribunal (other than prescribed classes of applications, for which no fee is payable) pursuant to regulation 19 of the principal regulations. This implements the Government’s decision to maintain the fee payable in respect of applications to the Tribunal at the same level as the fee payable on lodging a document initiating a proceeding in the original jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Australia. On 1 September 1987 the relevant Federal Court fee was increased from $200 to $240.
Details of the new regulations are as follows:
Regulation 1 provides that the regulations shall come into operation on 17 September 1987.
Regulation 2 amends regulation 19 of the principal regulations by omitting from subregulation (1) the figure $200 and substituting $240.