Administrative Law Lawyers Australia
What Is Administrative Law?
There are many areas of life in Australia where the Government, or a Government department, is authorised to make decisions.
Administrative law is the area of law which involves challenging those decisions in a Court or Tribunal. This is sometimes referred to as judicial review or merits review.
What Are the Principles of Administrative Law?
Australia is a very ‘Government-heavy’ society. The Government is involved in almost everything, and a huge proportion of Australians either work directly for the Government, or rely on them for their welfare.
Because we interface with the Government so much, we are often subject to Government decision makers whose decisions have a large impact on our lives.
Administrative law is the area of law that involves challenging decisions make by Government officials when they are either unlawful or unfair. Unlawful Government decisions usually involve a misinterpretation or misapplication of the statute that enables that decision maker to act. This is sometimes referred to as ‘judicial review’. Unfair decisions usually involve a decision maker not properly or fully considering all of the facts relevant to the decision. This is sometimes referred to as ‘merits review’.
Administrative law is a very important area of law because it allows for citizens to appeal and review the decisions that affect them. It is also a technical area of law with a complex legal history in Australia.
At Maat’s Method, as human rights lawyers, we have been involved in some of the most prominent administrative review cases of the past few years, taking Government Departments to the Federal Court as well as the High Court of Australia.
We also run smaller administrative law matters for individuals, including freedom of information applications and appeals of decisions made by Government departments.
If you would like to review or appeal a Government decision, we can help.
Our Lawyers Specialise In Administrative Law
- Judicial Review applications;
- Merits Review applications;
- Reviews of decisions made by Government Departments;
- Reviews of decisions made by Government Officials/employees;
- Freedom of information applications and appeals;
- Appeals of Government decisions.
If a Government department has made a decision which you believe is incorrect, unfair or unlawful, we can help.