News about the AAT September 2020 The Review includes news about the AAT and summaries of a selection of our published decisions. Previous issues of The Review are available on our website. Members of the public attending hearingsAAT hearings are open to the public unless a law requires a case to be heard in private or the presiding member decides to hear all or part of a case in private. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been running many of our hearings by video or telephone. We have adjusted our processes so members of the public are able to attend these types of hearings and to make sure, even if a hearing is held onsite, physical distancing requirements can be observed. What you don’t see—protecting privacy and promoting transparencyThe AAT is one of the highest volume publishers of decisions of all Australian courts and tribunals. For certain types of cases, our decisions with written reasons are published for the wider community to read without any form of editing. Sometimes, for legal reasons or following a direction by the member, we need to redact information in a decision before we publish it. Applicants, other parties and witnesses have a general right to privacy. Redacting and replacing identifying details with a pseudonym or generic text helps the AAT communicate the stories of people involved in its reviews, without revealing their identities. The AAT has a team of people responsible for redacting and publishing certain types of AAT decisions. The team receives full decisions with written reasons from the members who have made those decisions and, where appropriate, follow strict procedures and policies to remove identifying details while keeping the decision coherent and readable. Find out more about the process of redaction on our website. To illustrate how the AAT may need to edit a decision before publishing it, below are three recent examples of decisions where information was redacted. There is a child support decision, and two refugee decisions. In each case, there are important reasons why personal details of the people involved must not be revealed to the public. Heinrich and Bannerman (Child support) [2020] AATA 2670 When a child started living away from home for work, the AAT had to decide whether this changed the amount of time his mother cared for him. 1731457 (Refugee) [2020] AATA 2361 A single Iraqi man living in Australia for ten years claimed to be in an exceptionally vulnerable position if he were to return to Iraq. 1801345 (Refugee) [2020] AATA 1739 In this case, the AAT had to decide whether high-profile Brazilian activists could live elsewhere or whether Australia owed them protection. Our staff produce decision summaries for a selection of AAT decisions that have been published in full on the AustLII website. We use these summaries to offer an insight into our decision-making processes and to demonstrate the diversity of our work. For the complete facts and reasons, please view the full written decisions on AustLII. View our recent decision summaries below. Social services & child supportHyde and Hyde (Child support) [2020] AATA 2169 The AAT had to decide whether a father had a child support debt after he stopped paying child support. Veterans' entitlementsForrest and Repatriation Commission (Veterans' entitlements) [2020] AATA 1308 The AAT had to decide whether a depressed and housebound veteran was entitled to a higher rate of pension. TaxationMcAteer and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation) [2020] AATA 1795 A taxpayer required to work from home on-call could claim some expenses associated with occupying his home for work. The AAT Bulletin is a weekly publication containing information about recently published decisions and appeals against decisions in the AAT’s General, Freedom of Information, National Disability Insurance Scheme, Security, Taxation & Commercial and Veterans’ Appeals Divisions. The Bulletin also regularly includes a sample of decisions recently published in the AAT’s Migration & Refugee Division and Social Services & Child Support Division. What do you think? Write to us at Communications@aat.gov.au to provide editorial suggestions and feedback. |