Judiciary
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The judiciary is the legal arm of the government.
Independent of the legislature and the executive, it is the role of the judiciary to enforce Australia's laws. It must also ensure that the other arms of Government do not act beyond the powers granted to them by the Constitution or by Parliament, i.e. regulation.
Federal court system
Australia has four federal courts, as well as several appeal tribunals.
The Family Court of Australia has jurisdiction over all matrimonial cases and associated responsibilities including separation and marriage dissolution and the welfare of children of the separating couples.
Federal Magistrates' Court of Australia
The jurisdiction of the Federal Magistrates Court includes family law and child support, administrative law, bankruptcy, unlawful discrimination, consumer protection law, privacy law, migration and copyright. The court shares those jurisdictions with the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia.
The objective of the Federal Magistrates Court is to provide a simpler and more accessible alternative to litigation in the superior courts and to relieve the workload of those courts.
The Federal Court of Australia was created in 1977 and assumed jurisdiction formerly exercised in part by the High Court of Australia and the whole of the jurisdiction of the Australian Industrial Court and of the Federal Court of Bankruptcy.
The Court has a substantial and diverse appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from decisions of single judges of the Court, and from the Federal Magistrates Court in non-family law matters.
The High Court is the highest court in the Australian judicial system. The functions of the High Court are to interpret and apply the law of Australia, to decide cases of special federal significance including challenges to the constitutional validity of laws and to hear appeals from Federal, State and Territory courts.
Decisions by the High Court of Australia cannot be appealed.
Tribunals
There are several tribunals that adjudicate disputes in specific areas, the main ones which are described below:
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) provides independent review of a wide range of administrative decisions made by the Australian government and some non-government bodies.
The Tribunal provides a final, independent, merits review of visa and visa-related decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs or, more typically, by officers of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), acting as delegates of the Minister.
Social Security Appeals Tribunal
The Tribunal is the first level of external review of decisions made by Centrelink about social security, family assistance, education or training payments.
There are also several minor tribunals including the:
Australian Competition Tribunal
Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal
This page - http://www.iris.tas.gov.au/governance/federal_governance/judiciary - was last published on
24th October 2008 by the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, State of Tasmania. Questions concerning this site or its content can be submitted via the feedback form, by mail to GPO Box 936, Hobart, TAS, Australia, 7001 or by phoning +61 3 6233 5168.
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