KEY POINTS
- The Administrative Appeals Tribunal is set to be abolished and replaced.
- Lawyers for asylum seekers claim some of their clients were treated unfairly.
- The government says the tribunal will be replaced by a "transparent, merit-based system of appointments".
Australian lawyers representing asylum seekers whose cases failed before the soon-to-be-abolished Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) are hoping a new body will deliver "justice" for their clients.
The Albanese government last week announced that the Tribunal which, among other matters, reviews federal decisions on migrant and refugee visas, .
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus described the body as a "disgraceful exhibition of cronyism" amid criticism of the former government over political appointments, and said a new one would be established.
"We remain concerned that a number of people have been found not to be refugees, through a system that the government recognises is flawed, and without fairness," Sarah Dale from the Refugee Advice and Casework Service told SBS News.
"We want to see a response for those people that have received negative decisions through such systems."
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) welcomed the abolition of what it said was "a rigged system" that denied people seeking asylum an "efficient and fair review process".
It said 38 per cent of cases between 2018-2021 were reviewed by courts and either remitted or found to be unlawful.
"Good riddance to a flawed body that was politicised, rigged and stacked against people seeking asylum and refugees," Jana Favero, Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at ASRC said.
The government says the tribunal will be replaced by a "transparent, merit-based system of appointments".
Paul Power, CEO of Refugee Council of Australia, said that Australia's integrity has been "stained" by what he said was an unfair system.
"For the sake of the integrity of Australia's onshore protection system, and for justice for people who need refugee protection, the inefficiencies of the AAT is one of the major obstacles the government faces," he told SBS News.
Sarah Dale, Principal Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service. Credit: DAMON AMB
He also said there was a significant number of the tribunal members who did not have the "high level of skill set" required for dealing with "complicated matters of war".
Research from the Kaldor Centre at the University of New South Wales, showed members appointed by the Liberal-Nationals Coalition were 1.79 times more likely to provide a negative decision in hearings.
Daniel Ghezelbash, Deputy Director of the Kaldor Centre, said the impact of these decisions "couldn't be any higher".
"These are applicants for refugee protection," he said. "So it means that they could be sent home to face persecution, or even death, if that outcome or that assessment was carried out incorrectly."
"The stakes couldn't be any higher."
Last week, the Opposition's legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser accused Labor of wanting to start a new body from scratch to stack with its own people.
"This government is all about settling political scores, this announcement undermines the work of the tribunal in holding this Labor government to account," he said.
"The Labor Party campaigned heavily on a platform of integrity and transparency. Today's announcement achieves neither aim."
What happens to past and pending cases?
A spokesperson for the Mr Dreyfus told SBS News "all cases currently before the AAT will continue" and that there wasn't yet a concrete system announced for the replacement of the Tribunal.
The spokesperson said 75 additional members would be appointed to address the thousands of cases in .
"These new members will be appointed under a transparent merit-based process in accordance with the new AAT appointments guidelines. Those new members will transition to the new body once it is operational."
