A proposed new Super Tribunal will take over the role of the current Guardianship Tribunal, along with 23 other NSW tribunals in 14 months time.
From January 1, 2014, the Guardianship Tribunal, the Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal and the Administrative Decisions Tribunal will all become part of a new “Super Tribunal” called the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
It is expected that the current members of these tribunals will be “carried over” into the new jurisdiction. The NSW Government is aiming to eliminate unnecessary administrative overheads and pool resources, thereby reducing the delivery costs of registry and other support services.
Principal of Streeterlaw, Mark Streeter, said he hopes the new Super Tribunal won’t impact the manner in which Guardianship and Financial Management disputes are resolved.
“It appears that it is merely a restructuring of the tribunal process and in fact, it may produce a more efficient service. It appears the Government is seeking to gain an efficiency of scale by consolidating the administrative and registry services for all the tribunals,” he said.
NCAT will have five divisions: Guardianship, Victims, Consumer, Administrative and Equal Opportunity, and Occupational and Regulatory.
It is proposed that a Supreme Court Judge will be appointed as president of the NCAT, assisted by five deputy presidents, one to head up each of the five divisions.
– Reported in the AFR October 26, 2012.
