History, Development and Future of Tribunals in Australia

Abstract

Australia can be justifiably proud of its tribunal history. Australia included in its inheritance from Britain the practice of setting up bodies outside the court system to adjudicate on disputes or make decisions. Tribunals were among those bodies. Early tribunals in the United Kingdom were the Commission on Sewers and a body to hear complaints about excluding students from public universities. Australia too set up tribunals early in its history to deal with disputes over matters such as dust diseases and coal. Over time, the dispute-handling landscape in Australia contained a polyglot mix of such bodies. Many of these tribunals were developed by private sector organisations like racing clubs, sporting clubs, churches, and education institutions. Some were set up under executive power. Many of these executive type bodies were subsequently regulated under legislation. Others were hybrid public/private bodies handling disputes relating to matters such as superannuation, initially the sole province of individual superannuation funds but later also dealt with under national legislation. Others still were government-regulated from their inception such as the eponymous National Lighthouse Advisory Committee, Repatriation Boards which determined claims and benefits by returned service personnel and industrial relations bodies....