Administrative Appeals Tribunal

Kramer Levin Elevates Five to Counsel and Three to Special Counsel

Retrieved on: 
Monday, December 11, 2023
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Kramer Levin is pleased to announce the promotion of Tristan Bonneau, Elan Daniels, Allison D. Gray, Pauline Plancke and M. Mendel Trapedo to counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Key Points: 
  • Kramer Levin is pleased to announce the promotion of Tristan Bonneau, Elan Daniels, Allison D. Gray, Pauline Plancke and M. Mendel Trapedo to counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
  • The firm has also promoted Michelle Ben-David, William Cavanagh and Ralph C. Mayrell to special counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
  • Known for his creativity, Elan routinely advises clients on the opportunities and risk attendant to their positions in distressed situations.
  • He earned his J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Visa exploitation review urges tougher penalties and a ban on temporary migrants in sex work. Would this solve the problem?

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
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This is in addition to legislation it has already introduced to strengthen employer compliance measures to protect temporary migrants from exploitation.

Key Points: 
  • This is in addition to legislation it has already introduced to strengthen employer compliance measures to protect temporary migrants from exploitation.
  • But the Nixon review goes further, with more than 30 recommendations.
  • Importantly, it has placed the compliance dimension into the visa processing system instead of keeping it mainly within Australian Border Force.

Cracking down on misconduct by migration agents

    • Among its recommendations, the Nixon review called for strengthening the compliance and investigative powers of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority to address misconduct by registered migration agents.
    • It noted:
      [Registered migration agents] may perceive that engaging in such illegal activity is low risk, and high reward.
    • [Registered migration agents] may perceive that engaging in such illegal activity is low risk, and high reward.
    • The review also said overseas migration agents are currently not required to be registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority to provide immigration advice, which it recommended changing.

A ban on temporary migrants in the sex industry?

    • Canada, for instance, has implemented a ban on any temporary migrants working in this sector.
    • The review recommended a similar ban in Australia, as well as increased penalties for those found to be hiring temporary migrants for the sex industry, saying:
      The prohibition of temporary migrants working in the sex industry would send a strong and clear message that the Australian government has no tolerance for the exploitation of temporary migrants.
    • The prohibition of temporary migrants working in the sex industry would send a strong and clear message that the Australian government has no tolerance for the exploitation of temporary migrants.
    • Some advocates in the sex industry, such as the Scarlet Alliance), believe a full ban would not stop exploitation in the sex industry, it would just drive it further underground.

Reducing backlogs in visa processing

    • The Nixon review also focused on the lengthy processing times for some visa subclasses, which it said cumulatively could last up to a decade.
    • There’s a clear link between government under-funding, visa processing backlogs and compliance issues.
    • The backlogs create an incentive to engage in fraudulent asylum claims because claimants have appeal rights for longer periods of time.
    • In this way, a bridging visa that is issued pending an Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) decision can act like a quasi-work visa.

Grattan on Friday: It can be a battle to get information from the Albanese government

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 31, 2023
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Hardiman detailed a litany of obstacles in resourcing and culture in the administration of FOI, which he could not overcome.

Key Points: 
  • Hardiman detailed a litany of obstacles in resourcing and culture in the administration of FOI, which he could not overcome.
  • The regular Senate estimates hearings, which grill bureaucrats, are welcomed and feared, depending where people sit in the political process.
  • It did set up the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and for that it has been rightly praised.
  • Whatever one thinks of secrecy around the NACC, there are plenty of other areas where it is clearly excessive.
  • Patrick defeated, in a legal judgment, the Morrison government’s attempt to keep secret all the documents of the National Cabinet.
  • Albanese before the election promised an inquiry into this, and later commissioned one from the Office of National Intelligence.
  • At Tuesday’s Senate Committee hearing, Hardiman said: “FOI may not be considered a sexy subject matter or as being of life-changing importance.

Robodebt royal commissioner makes multiple referrals for prosecution, condemning scheme as 'crude and cruel'

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 7, 2023
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Robodebt Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes has referred multiple individuals involved with the illegal scheme for civil and criminal prosecutions and other actions.

Key Points: 
  • Robodebt Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes has referred multiple individuals involved with the illegal scheme for civil and criminal prosecutions and other actions.
  • In a swingeing indictment of the scheme, the commission says: “Robodebt was a crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal, and it made many people feel like criminals.
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference he did not have the sealed section, but the head of his department, Glyn Davis, did.
  • Robodebt, designed to raise maximum revenue, used income averaging to strike debts to recover money from welfare payments.
  • Scott Morrison, who as social services minister was an initiator of the scheme, “allowed Cabinet to be misled,” the report says.
  • "Truly dismaying was the revelation of dishonesty and collusion to prevent the Scheme’s lack of legal foundation coming to light.

Robodebt royal commission recommends multiple referrals for prosecution, condemning scheme as 'crude and cruel'

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 7, 2023
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Robodebt Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes has recommended the referral of multiple individuals involved with the illegal scheme for civil and criminal prosecutions.

Key Points: 
  • Robodebt Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes has recommended the referral of multiple individuals involved with the illegal scheme for civil and criminal prosecutions.
  • They are contained in a sealed section of Holmes’ report, released Friday, with referrals variously to be made to the Public Service Commission, the new National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Australian Federal Police, and professional bodies.
  • In a swingeing indictment of the scheme, the commission says: “Robodebt was a crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal, and it made many people feel like criminals.
  • Sources said about 20 people were involved, including former ministers and public servants.
  • Robodebt, designed to raise maximum revenue, used income averaging to strike debts to recover money from welfare payments.
  • Scott Morrison, who as social services minister was an initiator of the scheme, “allowed Cabinet to be misled,” the report says.

Senate estimates opening statement May 2023

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, May 27, 2023
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Key Points: 

With the COVID crisis easing, is the National Cabinet still fit for purpose?

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 28, 2023
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The establishment of the National Cabinet in March 2020, which brought together the prime minister, state premiers and territory chief ministers to coordinate the national response to the COVID pandemic, played into this strength.

Key Points: 
  • The establishment of the National Cabinet in March 2020, which brought together the prime minister, state premiers and territory chief ministers to coordinate the national response to the COVID pandemic, played into this strength.
  • Compared to other intergovernmental forums, the National Cabinet was designed to be nimble, decisive and not weighed down by bureaucracy.
  • However, three years on, and with the pressing nature of the pandemic easing, it’s time to rethink the National Cabinet.

1. An informal approach is no longer sustainable

    • While the current model for National Cabinet worked well at the height of the pandemic, the same approach is not ideal today.
    • Since the abolition of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2020, National Cabinet has served as the primary forum for Australia’s leaders to meet and consider important issues facing the country.

2. The veil of secrecy must be lifted

    • Federal Court Justice Richard White held that simply naming the institution a “cabinet” did not automatically grant it confidentiality.
    • Read more:
      Morrison government loses fight for national cabinet secrecy

      But even after that decision, both the Morrison and Albanese governments have refused Freedom of Information requests for National Cabinet documents.

    • Adding in a policy of blanket secrecy about National Cabinet further constrains our ability to hold governments accountable and undermines public trust.
    • Read more:
      Nowhere to hide: the significance of national cabinet not being a cabinet

3. National Cabinet must have a true federal-state balance

    • If the National Cabinet is to succeed into the future, its participants must be committed to the aims of federalism.
    • Any reform of National Cabinet should ensure it is a truly federal body.
    • These issues remain a challenge to fostering greater equality in the National Cabinet and optimising our federation to the greatest advantage.

Where to from here?

    • But the transition from COAG to the National Cabinet was so swift, there was no opportunity to develop a truly workable, sustainable model.
    • The National Cabinet has an opportunity to learn from the deficits of COAG and create a lasting model of federal cooperation and achievement.

Annual Report 2014–15: working with government, business and communities to protect Australian privacy

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 31, 2022
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= Annual Report 201415: working with government, business and communities to protect Australian privacy =

Key Points: 
  • = Annual Report 201415: working with government, business and communities to protect Australian privacy =
    The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has today released its 201415 Annual Report.
  • The report highlights the OAICs significant achievements in privacy and freedom of information (FOI) regulation.
  • In terms of our privacy functions, the OAICs focus this year was on working collaboratively with business, Australian Government agencies and consumer groups to embed the most significant reforms to the
    Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) since its enactment, said Acting Australian Information Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim.
  • The OAIC produced a comprehensive range of privacy resources to assist both businesses and individuals to understand their rights and obligations under the amended Privacy Act.
  • These included the OAICs Privacy Management Framework, launched during Privacy Awareness Week in May 2015.
  • The framework will assist businesses and government to achieve good privacy practice by embedding a culture of privacy into their everyday processes.
  • We are also helping consumers to understand their privacy rights through a range of accessible, plain-English, publications, Mr Pilgrim said.
  • This included conducting privacy assessments of businesses and accepting the first enforceable undertaking made under the amended Privacy Act, said Mr Pilgrim.

‘HW’ and Freelancer International Pty Limited

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 31, 2022
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HW and Freelancer International Pty Limited

Key Points: 
  • HW and Freelancer International Pty Limited
    13 January 2016
    Under the Privacy Act 1988, the Australian Information Commissioner can make a determination on a privacy complaint where the matter has not been able to be resolved through conciliation or finalised on some other basis.
  • In HW and Freelancer International Pty Limited, the Commissioner found that Freelancer had breached the complainants privacy.
  • The full determination is available at HW and Freelancer International Pty Limited [2015] AICmr 86 (18 December 2015).
  • Parties to a determination are able to seek review of the decision through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or through the Federal Circuit Court or Federal Court of Australia.

Privacy Commissioner lodges appeal to Federal Court re Telstra Corporation Limited v Privacy Commissioner

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 31, 2022
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Privacy Commissioner lodges appeal to Federal Court re Telstra Corporation Limited v Privacy Commissioner

Key Points: 
  • Privacy Commissioner lodges appeal to Federal Court re Telstra Corporation Limited v Privacy Commissioner
    11 February 2016
    On May 1 2015 the Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim PSM, determined that Telstra Corporation had breached National Privacy Principle 6.1 in the matter of Ben Grubb v Telstra Corporation Limited [2015] AICmr 35.
  • Telstra appealed the determination to the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
  • On 18 December 2015 the Tribunal set aside the Commissioners determination, substituting a finding that no breach of NPP 6.1 had occurred.
  • On 14 January 2016, having considered the AATs decision, the Privacy Commissioner filed a Notice of Appeal from a Tribunal to the Federal Court of Australia.