Courts and Tribunals Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) 2021

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Courts and Tribunals Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021

## What it does

This bill makes a bunch of technical updates to how Australian courts and tribunals operate. The main changes include giving tribunals stronger powers to get information from people, allowing courts to hold hearings remotely, and fixing procedures around how cases are reviewed and decided.

## Why it matters

These changes make the court and tribunal system run more smoothly and fairly. They let disputes get resolved faster (through things like mediation) and ensure courts can keep operating even when people can't meet in person—which became especially important during COVID lockdowns.

## Key details

- **Information gathering**: The Administrative Appeals Tribunal can now compel people to hand over documents and give evidence more easily, particularly in cases involving family payments, child support, and welfare benefits.

- **Remote hearings**: Family law courts and federal courts can now hold proceedings by video or phone instead of requiring everyone to be physically present.

- **Dismissal powers**: Tribunals get clearer authority to dismiss cases that are frivolous, vexatious, or repetitive—stopping people from clogging up the system with bad-faith claims.

Official Description

Amends the: A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 , Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 , Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 , Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 and Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to standardise, across all divisions, the powers of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to issue summonses to require persons to give evidence or produce documents; Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 in relation to: procedural fairness; alternative dispute resolution processes; constitution and reconstitution of the AAT; dismissal powers; correction of errors; appointments, authorisations and assignments; taxation of costs; and protection and immunity of reviewers in the Immigration Assessment Authority; Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 in relation to applications for review of child support decisions; Admiralty Act 1988 to align the Admiralty Rules with the rules of federal courts; Foreign Judgments Act 1991 , Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 and International Arbitration Act 1974 to provide certain procedural protections to foreign States; Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 , Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 , Judiciary Act 1903 and Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to make minor and technical amendments; Family Law Act 1975 , Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 , Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and Judiciary Act 1903 to clarify that hearings conducted remotely using videoconferencing technology are exercised in 'open court'; Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 to allow for short form reasons in the court's appellate jurisdiction in civil proceedings; and Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to make consequential and technical amendments. Also repeals the Nauru (High Court Appeals) Act 1976 .

Committee Referrals

Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

23 June 2021

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

17 Feb 2022

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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