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The AAT manages our workload in the following divisions:

  • Freedom of Information Division 
  • General Division
  • Migration & Refugee Division (including the Immigration Assessment Authority)
  • National Disability Insurance Scheme Division 
  • Security Division
  • Small Business Taxation Division
  • Social Services & Child Support Division
  • Taxation & Commercial Division, and
  • Veterans’ Appeals Division

Members of the AAT are statutory office holders appointed by the Governor-General under the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975. Staff of the AAT are employed under the Public Service Act 1999.

View the AAT organisational chart (PDF 367 KB)

Members of the AAT

The Tribunal consists of the President and members who may be appointed as:

  • Deputy Presidents
  • Senior Members
  • Members.

A Deputy President may be assigned as the Head of one or more divisions.  A Deputy President or Senior Member may be assigned as the Deputy Head of one or more divisions.

Members are appointed by the Governor-General on a full-time or part-time basis. Appointments may be made for a term of up to seven years. Members may be reappointed.

Our members come from a wide range of backgrounds with expertise in areas such as accountancy, disability, law, medicine, migration, military affairs, public administration, science and social welfare.

The President and Deputy Presidents can exercise powers in any of the AAT’s divisions. Senior Members and Members may only exercise powers in the division or divisions to which they have been assigned.

The table of statutory appointments (XLSX 85 KB t) (PDF 235 KB) sets out a full list of the AAT’s members, their dates of appointment, location and the divisions to which Senior Members and Members are assigned.

View the Conduct Guide for AAT Members (PDF, 205 KB)

President

The Honourable Justice Emilios Kyrou AO was appointed as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia on 8 June 2023 and as President of the AAT on 9 June 2023.

From 2014 to 2023, Justice Kyrou was a Judge of Appeal of the Victorian Court of Appeal. From 2008 to 2014, Justice Kyrou was a Trial Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, where he was one of the judges in charge of the Supreme Court’s Judicial Review and Appeals List. From 1990 until 2008, Justice Kyrou was a senior litigation partner in the international legal firm that is now known as King & Wood Mallesons, where he specialised in administrative law and insurance law.

Justice Kyrou commenced his legal career in 1983 as an articled clerk at the firm that is now known as Corrs Chambers Westgarth and was a partner of that firm from July 1988 until July 1990.

Justice Kyrou was born in Greece. His family migrated to Australia when he was 8 years of age.

Justice Kyrou was an inaugural member of the Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion. He is the patron of the Australian Greek Welfare Society (‘Pronia’) and the Victorian patron of the Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association.

Division Heads

A Division Head is responsible for directing the business of the AAT in the division and exercises functions and powers under delegation from the President.

Mr Peter Britten-Jones

Deputy President Peter Britten-Jones is Division Head of the General Division. Mr Britten-Jones was appointed as Deputy President of the Tribunal on 1 July 2018 and as Division Head of the General Division on 20 March 2019.

Mr Britten-Jones was first appointed as a part-time senior member of the Tribunal in 2016. Prior to these appointments, Mr Britten-Jones was a solicitor and then a barrister, practising in civil and commercial litigation.

Mr Bernard McCabe

Deputy President Bernard McCabe is Division Head of the Taxation & Commercial Division and the Small Business Taxation Division. Mr McCabe was appointed as a Deputy President of the Tribunal and as Division Head on 25 March 2016.

Mr McCabe was first appointed as a part-time member of the Tribunal in 2001 a full-time Senior Member in 2003. Mr McCabe was previously an Associate Professor of Law at Bond University. He was also a member of the legal committee of the Companies and Securities Advisory Committee between 1998 and 2001.

The Hon Mr Michael Mischin

Deputy President the Hon Michael Mischin is Division Head of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Division. Mr Mischin was appointed as a Deputy President of the Tribunal and as Division Head from 9 May 2022.

Prior to his appointment to the Tribunal, Mr Mischin served as the Attorney-General from 2012 to 2017 and as the Minister for Commerce from 2013 to 2017 for the Government of Western Australia. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 2009 to 2021. Before entering the Parliament of Western Australia, Mr Mischin was a senior state prosecutor with the Director of Public Prosecutions of Western Australia.

Ms Jan Redfern

Deputy President Jan Redfern PSM is Division Head of the Migration & Refugee Division. Ms Redfern was appointed as a Deputy President of the Tribunal and as Division Head on 21 March 2016 for a term of seven years. She was reappointed until 22 December 2023.

Ms Redfern has previously served the AAT as a Senior Member from 2009 to 2014. She served as Principal Member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal's Guardianship Division from 1 January 2015 and before that as a legal member and then Deputy President of the NSW Guardianship Tribunal.

Prior to these appointments Ms Redfern held a number of senior executive positions with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission from 1999 to 2008. In 2007 she was awarded a Commonwealth Public Service Medal for outstanding service to corporate and financial services regulation and enforcement.

Ms Karen Synon

Deputy President Karen Synon is Division Head of the Social Services and Child Support Division. Ms Synon was appointed as Deputy President of the Tribunal and Division Head on 17 December 2020.

Ms Synon was first appointed to the Tribunal as a part time Member in 2015. Prior to her appointment to the Tribunal, Ms Synon was a Member of the former Refugee Review Tribunal between 2001-2004 and the Migration Review Tribunal and Refugee Review Tribunal from 2004 until it was amalgamated into the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in 2015.

Staff

Registrar

The position of Registrar is a statutory office appointed by the Governor-General. The Registrar assists the President to manage the administrative affairs of the AAT and is:

  • the Accountable Authority under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, and
  • the agency head for the purposes of the Public Service Act 1999.

The Registrar also undertakes functions relating to the management of applications conferred by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 and other enactments.

Mr Michael Hawkins AM was appointed as Registrar from 14 April 2022.

Immediately prior to his appointment as Registrar, he was the Executive Director of the National Association of Cinema Operators – Australasia, a Director of Screen Australia and was formerly the CEO of Australian Multiplex Cinemas Ltd and Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Mr Hawkins also served for 6 years as a part-time member of the Migration and Refugee Division of the AAT. 

He is a lawyer and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He also serves as the Honorary Consul to Sweden in Queensland.

Senior executives

The President, Division Heads and Registrar are assisted by the following persons who hold office as senior executives in the Australian Public Service.

Name Role
Jamie Crew Chief Operating Officer
Shari Beaumont Executive Director, Registry Operations
Andrew Dundon Chief Information Officer
Christopher Matthies Chief Legal Officer
Alison Nesbitt Executive Director, Review Support 
Kelvin Zhu Chief Corporate and Financial Officer

Registry and Review Support staff

Staff in AAT registries provide administrative and other support in managing applications in each division. Conference Registrars conduct the majority of conferences and other ADR processes.

The AAT has Registries in each of the state capital cities and in Canberra. The registry service in Hobart is co-located with the Federal Court. Applications in the Northern Territory are managed from our other registries. The Supreme Court of Norfolk Island provides basic registry services on Norfolk Island.

Corporate and Enterprise Services staff

Corporate and Enterprise Services staff advise and assist the President and the Registrar, and provide a range of services for members and staff. They are responsible for business support services, communications, financial and human resource management, corporate legal and policy services, library and other information management services and technology services.