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About Reconsideration and Appeals

What decisions can be reconsidered?
How does the provider apply for reconsideration?
What appeals can be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

What decisions can be reconsidered?

If the provider is unhappy about a decision made by the Agency concerning accreditation of a home, a request can be made for reconsideration of that decision by the Agency.

Requests for reconsideration should be made to the General Manager, Accreditation at the Agency’s national office (click here). The exceptions to this are applications for reconsideration of decisions about assessors, which should be submitted to the local state office of the Agency.

The provider may apply to the Agency for reconsideration of the following decisions that are made about their home:

RECONSIDERATIONS
Decisions that homes can ask the Agency to reconsider	Time within which application must be made to Agency	Time Agency has to reconsider	Time Agency has to provide written advice
To refuse application for accreditation following desk audit	7 days	7 days
Not to accredit	14 days	56 days	14 days
The period of accreditation	7 days	7 days
To revoke accreditation	14 days	56 days	14 days
Improvements required and timetable for improvement following a review audit not to revoke accreditation	14 days	14 days
Variation of period of accreditation	14 days	14 days
Refusal to include applicant’s nominated assessor on an assessment team	7 days	7 days
Refusal to uphold objection about inclusion of an assessment team member	14 days	7 days

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How does the provider apply for reconsideration?

To be valid, an application for reconsideration must be in writing setting out the grounds on which reconsideration is sought, and should include one or more of the following:

an improvement outline
information about how the home is undertaking continuous improvement
any other relevant information which would support the application for reconsideration.

Any improvement outline should include an explanation of the steps the home will take to demonstrate compliance with the Accreditation Standards, and a date by which those steps will be accomplished.

When making reconsideration decisions, the Agency takes into account:

the material that was available to the original decision maker
any written submission and/or improvement outline submitted
reports from any further desk or site audits
information from subsequent support contacts
any other information that is made available concerning the home.

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What appeals can be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

Under Section 7.1 of the Accreditation Grant Principles 1999, if the provider is unhappy with a reconsideration decision by the Agency they are entitled to apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of the decision. The Tribunal is a review authority that is independent of the Agency. The Tribunal’s website is at www.aat.gov.au.

When informing the provider of a decision which is reviewable, the Agency will advise in writing of that decision, the reasons for that decision, and provide information about how to appeal.

Reviewable decisions are outlined in section 7.1 of the Accreditation Grant Principles 1999 and include:

Appointment of assessment teams

refusal to include an applicant’s nominated assessor in an assessment team
refusal to accept an applicant’s objection to a quality assessor.

After accreditation decision

decisions on re-consideration about the period for which the home is to be accredited
refusal of an application on reconsideration.

After review audit

variation of a period of accreditation
revocation of an accreditation.

The Agency must continue to carry out support contacts with the home during the appeal period.

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