MRT/RRT Update

July 2013 – COMMUNITY LIAISON UPDATE

“Dear Community Liaison Committee members

I am pleased to provide the community liaison update for July 2013.

I welcome any feedback you would like to provide about these updates. If you have any suggestions or comments, please forward them to [email protected]

Caseload report

Caseload statistics for the financial year 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 are now in with the caseload report for the financial year available to be viewed on our website. During the 2012-13 financial year the tribunals received 20,393 lodgements and made 19,347 decisions. This gave the MRT a clearance rate 96% and the RRT a clearance rate of 89%. On 30 June 2013 there were 19,417 actives cases in the tribunal.

20th anniversary of the RRT

On 1 July 2013 the RRT marked its 20th anniversary as a statutory body. A video-linked celebratory morning tea was held at for all staff and members across the country. We were joined by the RRT’s first Principal Member, Professor Leroy Certoma, who gave an engaging speech about the history of the RRT and its early days. Former Principal Members, Denis O’Brien and Steve Karas also attended in Sydney and Brisbane respectively.

New and updated Principal Member Directions

Principal Member directions (PMDs) are made under sections 353A and 420A of the Migration Act 1958. Two PMDs, PMD04 – Efficient conduct of RRT reviews and PMD05 – Efficient conduct of MRT reviews were updated on 1 July 2013 to incorporate minor changes. The changes relate to:

• updating the references to specific costs of application fees from 1 July
• removal of the time limits in the reference to the application forms
• removal of the reference to Ministerial Direction 16 (in PMD 05)
• the insertion of the reference to the new Ministerial Direction 57 (Order of consideration of protection visas) (in PMD 04)
• updating references; and minor formatting changes.

Methods of giving documents to the tribunals are now addressed in a new PMD which came into effect on 1 July 2013. PMD 09 – Lodging applications for review and giving documents or things to the tribunals. This PMD results from changes brought about by the Migration Legislation Amendment Regulations 2013 (No 1).

The PMD specifies the methods by which, and the locations at which, applications can be lodged and documents given to the tribunals. While PMD 09 is new, it does not change current practices. PMDs can be accessed on the Legislation, policies and guidance page of our website.

Important changes at the tribunals

As previously advised, important changes will be taking place at the tribunals during July 2013 that review applicants and their representatives need to be aware of. These changes are:

• From 1 July 2013      MRT application fee and RRT post decision fees increased
• From 1 July 2013      MRT-RRT prescribed periods and lodgement procedures were aligned
• From 15 July 2013   the MRT-RRT Victorian Registry will be located at: Level 10, 120 Spencer Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

For further information please visit the MRT-RRT website.

RRT Practice Direction

A draft of the RRT Practice Direction was circulated to Community Liaison Committee members on 17 June 2013. The purpose of the Practice Direction is to promote the efficient conduct of reviews.  The document sets out the tribunal’s requirements and expectations around the provision of submissions, access to documents, attending the hearing and other matters associated with the conduct of RRT reviews. Thank you to all who provided feedback on the Practice Direction by the due date of 28 June 2013. This feedback is being considered and a final Practice Direction will be circulated shortly.

Member professional development

This month professional development sessions for members are being held on the situation in Sri Lanka and Egypt.  In the coming months a number of sessions are planned on questioning skills and our procedural code, as well as changes to student cancellations, visitor visas and skilled visas.

Tribunal information sessions

Successful RRT open day events were held in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney to mark Refugee Week in June 2013. The open days involved staged hearings and presentations from tribunal members and staff on processes and caseloads. These events are an opportunity to for the public to get a better understanding of tribunal operations. Information sessions will continue to be held in future years. There was a strong turnout at all events and positive feedback from those who attended. Due a high demand for places, additional RRT sessions were also provided to Red Cross offices in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Kind regards,

Kay Ransome

Principal Member”

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