Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

The majority voted in favour of a motion to pass the bill in the Senate. The bill will now return to the House of Representatives, where our MPs will decide on whether they agree with the Senate amendments so the bill can become law.

What does the bill do?

According to the bills digest, which is a document prepared by the parliamentary library:

The Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (the Bill) amends the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (ART Act) and the Migration Act 1958 (Migration Act) regarding certain decisions which may be made without holding an oral hearing.

The Bill amends the ART Act to expand the circumstances in which the Administrative Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) may make a decision based on written materials and without holding an oral hearing.

The Bill amends the Migration Act to require that the Tribunal make certain decisions regarding reviewable migration decisions ‘on the papers’ instead of conducting an oral hearing. For this purpose, the Bill specifies reviews of decisions to refuse to grant a student visa, and provides that regulations may prescribe reviews of decisions relating to other kinds of temporary visa, whether refusals to grant or to cancel a visa.

The requirement for the Tribunal to make certain decisions on the papers will not apply to decisions regarding permanent visas and reviewable protection decisions. However, the Tribunal will retain discretion to dispense with oral hearings for these matters, including in expanded circumstances set out in the Bill.

Proposed Division 4A of Part 5 of the Migration Act provides for a new process for the conduct of applications to be reviewed on the papers. The process includes requirements that the Tribunal must invite the applicant to provide written submissions concerning their case.

The Bill has been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 24 November 2025.