About the Tribunals

The Migration Review Tribunal (the MRT) and the Refugee Review Tribunal (the RRT) (the Tribunals) review visa and visa-related decisions made within the Immigration and Citizenship portfolio. The Tribunals' objective is to provide reviews that are fair, just, economical, informal and quick. We aim to make the correct decision in individual cases, and to influence decision-making through quality and consistency of our decisions.

The jurisdiction, powers and procedures of the Tribunals are set out in the Migration Act 1958 and in the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunals comprise Members (appointed under the Migration Act) and staff (appointed under the Migration Act and employed under the Public Service Act 1999).

The values that are shared by Members and staff are reflected in our Tribunals' Plan, our Service Charter, the Member Code of Conduct, and the APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct. 

Principal Member Directions and other advices and guidelines are set out under Conduct of reviews. Tribunal forms are available from Forms and brochures.

We value our relations with our stakeholders. Regular Community Liaison meetings are held and notes of the meetings are published on this site.

Our relationship with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is documented in the Memorandum of Understanding with DIAC.

We publish statistics relating to the Tribunals’ cases and performance.