Reform of Judicial Review in NSW

Judicial review allows people to challenge the legality of government decisions. In NSW judicial review is available at common law. However, other Australian jurisdictions have established a simplified statutory right to judicial review, most notably, the Commonwealth Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (the 'ADJR Act'). The success of the ADJR Act (and the adoption of very similar legislation in three other states and territories) raises the question of whether NSW should establish a similar statutory right to judicial review. This discussion paper considers that question: Reform of Judicial Review in NSW - Discussion Paper (PDF, 272.9 KB)

The discussion paper analyses the current operation of judicial review in NSW and reforms in other jurisdictions, with particular focus on the ADJR Act. It asks whether there is a need for reform of judicial review in NSW and if so, what are the key issues that should be addressed in any reform measures. Specifically, the discussion paper asks:

• whether a statutory judicial review jurisdiction should be established,
• whether any such statutory jurisdiction should be modelled on the ADJR Act, or
• whether there are alternative options for the reform of common law judicial review in NSW.

​​The discussion paper also considers how to establish a statutory right to obtain a statement of reasons for decisions that may be subject to judicial review.

Submissions closed in April 2011.

The NSW Department of Attorney General and Justice received and considered 23 submissions from government agencies, academics and the legal profession following release of the discussion paper.