Changing attitudes to independence of Australian tribunals: Melbourne University Law Review Annual Lecture
2025 Melbourne University Law Review Annual Lecture, hosted by Melbourne Law School
Changing Attitudes to Independence of Australian Tribunals
Under Australia’s separation of powers doctrine, administrative tribunals are part of the executive branch in Chapter II of the Constitution. They are statutory bodies whose independence can vary according to the Act establishing them. Today, the importance of independence for administrative tribunals is generally accepted by Australian legislatures. However, that was not always the case. There has been a gradual attitudinal change regarding the need for administrative tribunals to be, and be seen to be, independent. The establishment of the Administrative Review Tribunal on 14 October 2024 to replace the Administrative Appeals Tribunal provides an ideal opportunity to consider the evolution of administrative tribunals in Australia and how legislative and judicial attitudes concerning their independence have evolved with them.
Please join Melbourne Law School and Melbourne University Law Review from 5:30pm with welcome drinks and light refreshments provided in the Melbourne Law School Building Ground Floor Foyer. The lecture will start promptly at 6:00pm in the Ground Floor G08 Theatre.
Presenters
Judge, Federal Court of Australia
President, Administrative Review Tribunal
The Hon Justice Kyrou is the inaugural President of the Administrative Review Tribunal. He was a Judge of Appeal of the Victorian Court of Appeal from July 2014 until June 2023, when he was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (replaced by the Administrative Review Tribunal on 14 October 2024). Between May 2008 and July 2014, he was a Trial Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. From July 1990 until May 2008, he was a senior litigation partner at the firm that is now known as King & Wood Mallesons where he specialised in administrative law and insurance law.
