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Legislation

This page provides links to the key Acts and Regulations that govern the operations and procedures of the AAT.

Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act and Regulations

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (The Act) provides for the establishment, structure and management of the AAT. The Act and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Regulation 2015 set out our core powers and procedures, except for a review of a migration or refugee decision.

Code of practice for notification of reviewable decisions and rights of review

The Code of Practice sets out steps that must be taken to notify persons of their review rights when a reviewable decision is made.

Migration Act and Regulations

The jurisdiction, powers and procedures of the AAT to review migration or refugee decisions are set out in the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994.

Social Services Legislation

The following Acts set out the jurisdiction and aspects of the powers and procedures in relation to the review of decisions about social security, family assistance, child support, paid parental leave and student assistance:


Jurisdiction

We do not have a general power to review decisions. We can only review a decision if an Act, regulation or other legislative instrument states that the decision can be reviewed by the AAT.

We can review decisions made under more than 400 Commonwealth Acts and legislative instruments. The most common types of decisions we review relate to:

  • child support
  • farm household support
  • Commonwealth workers’ compensation
  • family assistance, paid parental leave, social security and student assistance
  • migration and refugee visas and visa-related decisions
  • taxation
  • veterans' entitlements.

We also review decisions relating to:

  • Australian citizenship
  • bankruptcy
  • civil aviation
  • corporations and financial services regulation
  • customs
  • freedom of information
  • the National Disability Insurance Scheme
  • passports and
  • security assessments by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

We can also review decisions made under a small number of Norfolk Island laws, including decisions about building, land valuation and planning.

We are not always the first step in having a decision reviewed. In some cases, we cannot review a decision until there has been an internal review of the primary decision or review by a specialist review body like the Veterans’ Review Board.

We can also conduct a second review of certain Centrelink and child support decisions.


List of reviewable decisions - Commonwealth laws

The AAT maintains a list of Commonwealth laws under which decisions may be made that the AAT can review. It includes a brief description of those decisions. The list also includes enactments which allow the AAT to provide an advisory opinion. 

Feedback about use of this list can be sent to [email protected]

List of reviewable decisions - Norfolk Island laws

The list of Norfolk Island enactments under which decisions may be made that the AAT can review can be downloaded here:


The AAT's Legal and Policy Section maintains these lists. Any questions about the lists should be sent to [email protected]

Disclaimer: While the AAT has exercised due care in ensuring the accuracy of the material in these lists, the AAT does not warrant or represent that the information is free of errors or omissions. The AAT will not be liable to persons who rely on the information contained in the list for any loss, damage, cost or expense whether direct, indirect, consequential or special, incurred by, or arising by reason of, any person using or relying on the list, whether caused by reason of any error, omission or misrepresentation in the list. A conclusive determination as to whether the AAT is able to review a particular decision can only be made once the AAT has received an application for review.