Welcome to the website of the Council of Australasian Tribunals Inc.

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Workplace office design guidelines (PDF 360KB) (27 pages)

Good design in any building project is hard to achieve. In most cases compromises are required between elements such as the amount of space available, the amount of funding available and the facilities needed. These guidelines have been produced by COAT with the assistance of  the IA Group to assist Tribunal leaders and staff to be able to effectively engage in facility planning and design processes. They set out the minimum features one can reasonably expect of tribunal premises and provide a basis for excellent design. I commend them to you.

Justice Iain Ross AO
Chair National COAT

June 2013

Tribunals occupy an increasingly important place in the Australian justice system. Across the Commonwealth, in the State and Territories and New Zealand, tribunals have been established to perform a range of determinative functions. These can include matters as diverse as reviews of administrative decisions of Government, licensing and planning matters, decisions affecting the liberty, care and treatment of individuals, veterans' entitlements, industry regulation and accreditation, allocation of benefits and professional discipline matters.

Despite the increasing reliance on tribunals (as opposed to courts) to achieve justice in terms of individuals' relationship with Government as well as each other, there is no national body through which tribunals can come together to examine and compare ideas, working methods, organisation and management, member trainingS and support programs.

The proposal for a Council of Australian Tribunals - or COAT - was developed by the Administrative Review Council and supported at a meeting of Commonwealth, State and Territory tribunal heads on 3 October 2001. (See Background Papers for links to agenda papers and minutes of 3 October 2001 meeting). The proposal was considered at the AIJA Tribunals Conference in Melbourne on 6 June 2002 and was expanded to include New Zealand tribunals. The Council will be known as the Council of Australasian Tribunals (COAT).

Contacting the Council of Australasian Tribunals

If you would like more information about the COAT, please contact Mr Andrew Tenni, Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), who is the Executive officer of COAT.

Mr Tenni can be contacted on telephone (03) 9628 9001, or by fax on (03) 9628 9891 or by email at info@coat.gov.au.