Reviews of other government agency decisions

The agency which made the decision will tell you if your decision can be reviewed by NCAT.

Generally, you have to ask the original decision maker (the government agency) to review the decision before coming to NCAT. This is called an ‘internal review’. You must request an internal review within 28 days of being told of the original decision.

If you do not agree with the internal review decision or you have not received a response to your internal review request within 21 days, you may apply to NCAT to have the decision reviewed.

You can either present your own case to NCAT or have a lawyer or non-lawyer agent represent you. You will usually need to attend the hearing to give your instructions to your lawyer or agent.

• Your lawyer or agent needs to complete a Notice of Representation and submit to NCAT in person or by post
• Send a copy of the Notice of Representation to the government agency.

A non-lawyer agent needs to ask for permission to represent you from the Tribunal Member the next time the case is listed. You should attend with the agent in case NCAT does not allow the agent to appear for you. A lawyer does not need to ask for permission from the Member.

To apply to NCAT, you need to fill out an application for review form.

You will need to include the following information on your application for review form:

• Your name, address and telephone number.
• Name of the government agency that made the decision you want reviewed.
• Date of the original decision and the internal review decision
• Copy of the original decision and internal review decision (this is normally the letter sent to you by the government agency).
• A brief outline of why you think the decision is wrong.

Do you need a stay of the decision?

While you wait for NCAT to review the original decision, the decision still applies and the agency can implement it.  You can complete the Application for stay or interim order and lodge with your Application for review form.

You will receive a letter from NCAT telling you that your application has been received. You will be given a date to come to NCAT for a directions hearing.

You will also receive documents from the government agency that it considers are relevant to the decision.

The purpose of a directions hearing is to agree on what the parties need to do to prepare the case for hearing.

Normally you will be given a timetable to file your submissions and evidence with NCAT and provide a copy to the government agency.

Look through the documents that the government agency has provided to you and decide what further information NCAT will need when hearing your case.

Comply with the directions made at the directions hearing:

• You may have been asked to file and serve a statement or affidavit from yourself or other witnesses. Learn more about evidence and witnesses.
• You must give a copy of any statements or other documents you want to rely on to NCAT and to the other party by the deadline given to you at the directions hearing.

NCAT's hearings are less formal than court hearings. In most cases, the application will be heard by a single Tribunal Member.

When the Tribunal reviews administrative decisions, the respondent (the government agency) will usually give its evidence first. After the agency has given its evidence, the applicant will present their evidence.

In these cases, the Tribunal’s role is to decide whether the government agency made the correct decision. 

In some cases, the Tribunal Member will be able to give you their decision at the end of the hearing. The Member will usually need time to consider the case and will give their decision at a later date. You will usually receive the decision in less than 3 months. Complex matters may take longer.

You will receive a letter telling you of the decision that NCAT has made.

The decision may also be available on the NSW Caselaw website. You will be notified by phone before the reasons are published.

NCAT does not generally make an order for one party to pay the costs of another party's lawyer. Learn more about legal costs.

Right of appeal

If you are not satisfied with NCAT's decision may have the right of appeal to the Appeal Panel, if you can establish that the Tribunal went wrong either in the procedure it followed, or the way it applied the law to the facts of your case.

In some instances there may be a right of appeal to the NSW Supreme Court. If you are not sure of your appeal rights you should seek legal advice.​