South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT): The Two Year Review
Wednesday 7 June 2017 @ 12.04 p.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure | Legal Research | Torts, Damages & Civil Liability
Under section 96 of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 [the SACAT Act] there was a requirement created for an independent review of the operation of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal [SACAT] to be undertaken following SACAT's first two years of operation. That review has now been announced and the terms of reference for the review have been circulated.
Background
SACAT was established under the SACAT Act and commenced operation on 29 March 2015 and exercises such jurisdiction as is conferred on SACAT by what is termed, a "relevant Act".
SACAT is a state tribunal intended to help South Australian's resolve issues within specific areas of law, either through agreement at a conference or mediation, or through a decision of the Tribunal at hearing. SACAT also has the power to conduct reviews of some Government decisions and operates across the state of South Australia as a key part of the state's justice system.
Since coming into operation SACAT has taken over the role of a number of former South Australian tribunals, panels and boards and is intended to continue to take on additional areas of operation (within administrative and civil law) over coming years.
The intent is for SACAT to be accessible and responsive to needs of users and to deal with cases in a large range of legal areas and jurisdictions.
For more detail on the objectives of SACAT see Section 8 of the SACAT Act, which sets them out at length.
The Review Terms of Reference
The review is to be conducted by ex-Supreme Court Justice David Bleby QC. The Terms of Reference for the review, under section 96 of the SACAT Act, require consideration and assessment, which includes research and consultation with relevant SACAT members and staff, interested stakeholders and the general public. The following is a list of matters to be considered:
- the performance of SACAT;
- without limiting paragraph 1, the extent to which the main objectives of SACAT have been met;
- the administration and operation of the SACAT Act and of any provisions of a "relevant Act" that bear on the undertaking by SACAT of its functions, including whether you would recommend any amendment of this legislation being pursued by the Government;
- compared to the situation that existed prior to the establishment of SACAT
- the extent to which SACAT has improved access by parties to dispute resolution and improved responsiveness to parties, especially people with special needs;
- the extent to which the SACAT Act and the dispute resolution processes under the Act, and (if relevant) under a "relevant Act", have achieved a reduction in the number of disputed matters proceeding to a hearing and a decrease in the time taken to resolve disputes; and
- the extent to which costs to parties involved in proceedings have been reduced;
- the extent to which it would be advantageous to extend the jurisdiction of SACAT to matters arising under such other Acts or laws as you may identify; and
- any other matters arising from the review that are considered relevant.
It should be noted that the review may include any other matters specified by the Attorney-General, as the Minister responsible for the SACAT Act for the purposes of the review and that the review must result in the preparation of a report for the Attorney General, which must be tabled in Parliament.
Contributing to the Review
As part of the review, SACAT is looking for people wishing to share their experience and views of SACAT to build a picture of whether SACAT has met its goals, and to identify areas for improvement and future development. For this purpose a public survey has been compiled (see the YouSay website). The survey is open from 5 June 2017 and closes 30 June 2017. The feedback from this survey will be considered by Mr Bleby in his report on the performance of SACAT.
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