Parliament has passed legislation introducing changes to how the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) conducts reviews, with the Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 approved by both Houses on 5 February 2026.
The changes will take effect following Royal Assent, either on a proclaimed date or after six months.
The amendments allow the ART to resolve certain matters without an oral hearing, where it is appropriate to do so. Decisions may be made based on written material alone when the issues can be adequately assessed on the documents, it is reasonable in the circumstances, and the parties have been given an opportunity to provide submissions for consideration.
The legislation also introduces specific changes to the Migration Act, requiring some migration review matters to be determined on the papers. This includes reviews of student visa refusals and reviews relating to specified temporary visa categories, with scope for additional temporary visa types to be prescribed in the future.
The new arrangements do not apply to reviews involving permanent visas or protection visas, which will continue under existing review processes.
Click here: Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025