NSW Publication Restrictions and Contempt Powers for the Tribunal

Civil and Administrative Tribunal Amendment Bill 2023

21 Sep 2023: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

Share this bill

Email Facebook X Bluesky

Topics

court proceedings judicial administration legal transparency public records right to information

Introduced by: Michael Daley MP (ALP); The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The Tribunal can ban or restrict the publication of proceedings; this includes sound recordings and transcripts.
Parties cannot publish reports or recordings provided by the Tribunal for their private use.
People who ignore a Tribunal summons without a good reason commit contempt of the Tribunal.
The Tribunal must disclose relevant material; this only applies where it is practicable to do so.
The President of the Tribunal decides which members make up the Tribunal; the President can replace members to ensure justice or efficiency.
The Tribunal does not have to provide written reasons for minor procedural decisions; this includes granting adjournments or dispensing with hearings.
The President of the Tribunal can order a member not to take part in proceedings
The Tribunal can skip notice requirements for hearings if there is an imminent risk of harm to the person involved

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Susan Carter LIB

“I contribute to debate on the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Amendment Bill 2023. The bill implements recommendations made by the Report of the Statutory Review of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, which was tabled late last year. It implements 13 of the 15 recommendations made in the report.”

Official source →

Sue Higginson GRN

“On behalf of The Greens, I indicate that we will not be opposing the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Amendment Bill 2023. The bill seeks to implement the recommendations from the Report of the Statutory Review of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, which was tabled in 2021. The report has been sitting on a government shelf for two years now.”

Official source →

Abigail Boyd GRN

“As the disability rights and inclusion spokesperson for The Greens, I heartily endorse the comments of my colleague Ms Sue Higginson.”

Official source →

Stephen Lawrence ALP

“I speak in support of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Amendment Bill 2023, which, as we have heard, makes miscellaneous amendments to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 to implement the recommendations of a statutory review. I am not altogether surprised to hear that the tribunal is operating as intended.”

Official source →

Mark Buttigieg ALP

“The Civil and Administrative Tribunal Amendment Bill 2023 implements recommendations arising out of the report of the statutory review of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Civil and Administrative Tribunal Amendment Bill 2023

Mr MICHAEL DALEY, Attorney General — 2023-08-22

The bill will implement recommendations arising out of the Report of the Statutory Review of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, which was tabled on 23 December 2021. The review concluded that the policy objectives of the Act remain valid and that the terms of the Act remain appropriate to achieve those objectives, but also recommended some minor and technical changes to improve the operation of the Act, amendments to support the efficient conduct of proceedings, and amendments relating to the Occupational Division and Guardianship Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.