House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, the Honourable Daryl Williams AM QC MP)

General outline and financial impact statement

General outline

The Jurisdiction of the Federal Magistrates Service Legislation Amendment Bill 2001 will amend the Migration Act 1958 to give jurisdiction to the Federal Magistrates Service in matters under Part 8 of the Migration Act. This jurisdiction will be concurrent with the jurisdiction of the Federal Court.

The Bill will also amend the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (ADJR Act) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (AAT Act) to remove the restrictions on the Federal Magistrates Service hearing migration matters under the ADJR Act and hearing appeals in relation to migration matters under the AAT Act.

The Federal Magistrates Act 1999 and its companion consequential amendments Act provided for the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Service. The Service has developed procedures that aim to be as streamlined and as user-friendly as possible, reducing delay and costs to litigants.

In general federal law matters, the Service shares jurisdiction with the Federal Court in administrative law, bankruptcy, human rights and consumer protection matters.

Many migration matters are of a routine nature and would be suitable for the Service. The proposed additional jurisdiction in migration matters will be a significant step in broadening the Services jurisdiction beyond family law matters, which has been the main focus of its work.

Schedule 1 of the Bill amends Part 8 of the Migration Act 1958 and makes consequential amendments to other provisions of the Act. Part 8 of the Migration Act currently provides for judicial review by the Federal Court of certain decisions under the Migration Act, including decisions of the Refugee Review Tribunal and the Migration Review Tribunal. Part 8 of the Act sets out the grounds on which the Court may review these decisions. The Bill will amend Part 8 so that it applies both to the Federal Court and the Federal Magistrates Service.

Schedule 2 of the Bill amends the ADJR Act and the AAT Act to remove the restrictions on the Federal Magistrates Service hearing migration matters under the ADJR Act and hearing appeals in relation to migration matters under the AAT Act.

Financial impact statement

The conferral of jurisdiction on the Federal Magistrates Service will lead to an increase in workload for the Service. The Federal Magistrates Service has some spare capacity to undertake the additional jurisdiction and any additional resources required would be moved from the Federal Court to the Federal Magistrates Service to reflect the fact that workload will move from the Court to the Service.