The course introduces administrative law practice from an Australian Government agency and private client perspective. It prepares students to advise and assist clients on administrative law matters and to obtain review of federal administrative decisions. The focus is on:

•    Understanding the decision-making process pursuant to legislation and generally;
•    Review of decisions within government agencies and by external tribunals in particular, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT);
•    Preparation of review documents such as statements of reasons and of AAT documents such as a statement of facts and contentions;
•    The role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act (FOI), judicial v merits review and the use of Archives Act;
•    Drafting skills; and
•    Understanding accountability and ethical considerations in administrative law practice.

It is important to recognise there is also state legislation providing for access to government information, protection of personal information and review of State Government decisions. While there are links provided in available resources, this course does not cover State based legislative schemes. This course (and assessments pursuant to this course) is based on Commonwealth law only; however, students may draw on State based schemes while making postings under the Hot Topics Forum.

The Administrative Law Practice course introduces legal frameworks and principles applicable to aspects of administrative law practice and helps students develop skills, knowledge and understanding of the differences between acting for a private citizen or government client.

Students will experience different perspectives of administrative law practice as they represent a government agency for part of the scenario and a private citizen in another part of the matter. Legal practitioners must have an understanding of, and experience in, advising on administrative law matters for different clients and ‘opposing' sides.

This Administrative Law course does not qualify students to be a ‘government lawyer’ or enable them to specialise in administrative law more specifically, as one course cannot fully or adequately cover the wide range of ‘government practice’ that administrative law (and government legal practice more generally) entails, including:

•    Litigation;
•    Commercial practice – such as procurement, contracting, finance and related matters;
•    Corporate governance;
•    Statutory interpretation and advice work;
•    Constitutional law (note there are legal requirements here, including Legal Services Directions (LSDs) and tied work;)
•    Legal advice for policy development;
•    Legal advice relevant to development and / or and managing legislation etc; and
•    Legal Advice in relation to Parliament – committees, Ministers, private clients etc.

Litigation and commercial law are covered in a range of other courses offered under the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice banner.
The Government Law elective course provides an introduction to government practice through the legal policy development ‘pathway’ and uses a scenario to illustrate aspects of legal work that may be involved.