Administrative Law for Public Sector Managers Training Course

Participants can determine whether a decision is reviewable and identify the relevant review pathway.

• Classify administrative, legislative and judicial functions before selecting procedures
• Distinguish merits review from judicial review and internal reconsideration
• Trace statutory appeal routes, time limits and standing requirements
• Determine finality, reviewability and justiciability of proposed decisions
• Use jurisdictional fact analysis where statutory power depends on facts
• Record review rights accurately in decision letters and notices

Participants can structure discretionary decisions within statutory purpose, policy and evidential limits.

• Structure discretionary decisions with statutory objectives, criteria and relevant evidence
• Apply fettering-discretion safeguards when using policies, guidance and standard forms
• Identify relevant and irrelevant considerations through statutory interpretation
• Recognise improper purpose, bad faith and acting under dictation
• Document departure from policy using rational, evidence-based reasons
• Test reasonableness against evidence, statutory purpose and available alternatives

Participants can design fair decision processes appropriate to the decision, urgency and consequences.

• Determine when procedural fairness duties arise under statute or common law
• Apply the hearing rule: notice, disclosure, response and representation
• Set proportionate response periods based on urgency, complexity and consequences
• Manage confidential evidence, protected information and public-interest immunity claims
• Use oral hearings appropriately for disputed facts, credibility or serious sanctions
• Record procedural steps to demonstrate fair treatment and lawful process

Participants can identify and manage actual bias, apparent bias and conflicts affecting decisions.

• Apply actual bias and apprehended bias tests to decision-makers
• Screen conflicts of interest before allocating investigations or approvals
• Differentiate institutional bias from legitimate prior knowledge and expertise
• Establish recusal, disclosure and alternative-decision-maker arrangements
• Handle political representations without surrendering independent statutory judgment
• Maintain contact logs for ex parte communications and stakeholder meetings

Participants can gather, assess and record evidence supporting reliable administrative findings.

• Plan fact-finding using issues, evidence sources, standards and timelines
• Assess relevance, reliability, weight and sufficiency of administrative evidence
• Use burden and standard of proof concepts in regulatory decisions
• Interview witnesses using open questions, contemporaneous notes and corroboration
• Evaluate expert reports against mandate, methodology, assumptions and qualifications
• Preserve evidential records, versions and chain-of-custody documentation

Participants can write clear reasons connecting legal authority, evidence, findings and outcomes.

• Draft reasons linking findings, evidence, law and discretionary judgment
• Use IRAC to organise contested issues and statutory interpretation
• Address material submissions without reproducing every argument received
• Explain credibility findings and treatment of conflicting evidence clearly
• Prepare decision notices stating outcomes, conditions, reasons and review rights
• Quality-assure reasons against statutory criteria and procedural records

Participants can manage delegated powers, policies and subordinate instruments within legal limits.

• Identify enabling provisions, scope limits and mandatory consultation requirements
• Distinguish binding rules from guidance, policies and operational instructions
• Apply publication, commencement and accessibility requirements to subordinate instruments
• Control subdelegation through written authorities, delegations registers and approvals
• Review emergency powers for necessity, duration, safeguards and oversight
• Audit local procedures against parent statutes and delegated instruments

Participants can identify review vulnerabilities and respond appropriately to challenged decisions.

• Recognise illegality, procedural unfairness, irrationality and jurisdictional error grounds
• Assess standing, ripeness, delay and exhaustion before external challenge
• Compare quashing orders, declarations, injunctions and mandatory orders
• Manage internal reviews, ombudsman complaints and litigation holds promptly
• Preserve records and privilege when legal challenge becomes foreseeable
• Prepare remedial options that correct defects without prejudging reconsideration

Participants can implement practical controls for lawful, fair and consistent decision-making.

• Build decision-governance controls for high-volume and high-risk determinations
• Assign RACI responsibilities for casework, quality assurance and escalation
• Design file audits using legality, fairness, evidence and reasons criteria
• Set escalation thresholds for novel, sensitive and legally uncertain cases
• Analyse a humanitarian assistance eligibility decision for review vulnerabilities
• Complete a 90-day application plan for local decision processes