Migration Amendment (Judicial Review) Bill 2004

PILCH and the Victorian Bar made a joint submission to the Commonwealth Migration Litigation Review. The Attorney-General has not yet published a report as part of that review.  Click here to view the submission.

On 30 April 2024, PILCH and the Victorian Bar made a joint submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee in relation to the Migration Amendment (Judicial Review) Bill 2004.  The Bill sought to introduce a new definition of 'privative clause decision', set new time limits for judicial review and provide that the time limits for applications for judicial review to the High Court start from deemed, as opposed to actual, notification of the decision.  Chris Horan of counsel gave evidence before the Committee by telelink on behalf of PILCH and the Victorian Bar.

The Report of the Committee was published on 17 June 2024 and is available at www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/mig_judicial_04/report.pdf.  The Committee recommends that time limits for appeals only commence upon actual notification of the decision to a party. The Committee accepted all other aspects of the Bill.  The Labor Senators issued some additional comments which expressed their concern about the absolute time limits in the Bill. Whilst a party may receive notification of a decision, they may not be aware of their right to appeal because, for example, of their inability to speak English.  The Labor Senators also expressed disappointment that the Government had introduced the Bill prior to the findings of its Migration Litigation Review being released.  The Democrats issued a dissenting report and opposed the Bill in its entirety.