20.3 An outline of the ART and Federal Court of Australia process

DRCA original determinations made on or after 21 April 2025 must be appealed directly to the Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) within 12 months. Subsequent determinations by the VRB can be appealed to the Administrative Review Tribunal. Claimants cannot request a reconsideration by the Commission for determinations made on or after 21 April 2025, however the Commission continues to have the discretion to initiate a reconsideration of own motion.

Determinations made before 21 April 2025 cannot be reviewed by the VRB, so claimants should request a reconsideration by the Commission within 30 days of decision. Claimants can confirm the review pathway relevant to their claim by checking the determination letter. More information is available at dva.gov.au/single-review-pathway or vrb.gov.au

1.The employee, claimant or the Commonwealth applies to the ART for review of a specific reconsideration decision made under the DRCA (a reviewable decision). Applications should be made within 60 days of the date on which the reconsideration decision was received. However, as mentioned, there is provision for the ART to extend the time allowed in which to apply for review by the ART.

2.The ART notifies the MRCC that an application for review has been lodged, to which decision the application relates and the matter(s) to which the ART application relates.

3.The MRCC has a period of 28 days in which to provide the ART with a statement in accordance with Section 23 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024. The statement has to set out a history of the case and the reasons why the reviewable decision was made. Relevant documents are also provided.

4.All efforts will typically be made to try to resolve matters between the parties to the ART application (usually the claimant and the MRCC) without the necessity for a hearing.

5.To assist with this, there may be a conciliation conference before a matter is set down for a formal hearing. A conciliation conference is usually conducted at the ART.  The parties to the conference are the veteran, claimant or his/her legal or other representative such as an ex-service organisation member, the legal representative of the Department, briefed by the DVA Litigation team, and finally, a member or Senior Member of the Tribunal.

6.If it is not possible to resolve a matter prior to hearing, a hearing date will be scheduled and the matter will be heard at the appointed time. All parties attend.

7.When the hearing is finalised, the ART reserves its decision and, after a period (most likely weeks), formally hands down a decision.

8.The parties to the ART's decision are bound by that decision unless an appeal against the ART's decision is made to the Federal Court of Australia.

9.An appeal to the Federal Court can only be made on a point of law; that is, on an interpretation of the relevant legislation. In other words, there is no provision for the Federal Court to review an ART decision on the basis of the facts of a case.