Editors --- "The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Amendment Act" [2003] AdminRw 19; (2003) 55 Admin Review 55

• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Amendment Act

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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Amendment Act

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Amendment Act 2002 amends the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989.

Before the ATSIC Act 2002 amendments, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was empowered by the 1989 Act to make several decisions, including decisions relating to the issue of grants, loans and financial guarantees. The commission could delegate such decisions to the Chief Executive Officer or other ATSIC officers (s. 45 of the 1989 Act) or to a regional council (s. 45A of the 1989 Act). An individual affected by a delegate’s decision to issue a grant, loan or guarantee could seek review from either the commission (s. 195 of the 1989 Act) or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (ss. 196 and 196A of the 1989 Act).

The ATSIC Act 2002 amends ss. 195 and 196 of the 1989 Act to allow bodies corporate and unincorporated bodies affected by such decisions to seek review from the commission and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal when all other avenues of internal review have been exhausted. It also allows the commission to delegate its s. 195 function of reviewing decisions. Where such a review occurs, the complainant cannot seek further internal review (s. 195(3)).