20. The project examines procedures in comparable Tribunals, and makes recommendations to the ADT about procedures in the EOD, in order to make the EOD more accessible, especially to unrepresented parties.
Research method
Survey
21. Research conducted in 1996/7 by the Centre for Legal Process at the Law Foundation of NSW recorded all Tribunals operating in NSW. From that list, a project steering committee selected 17 Tribunals which were known to have policies to assist people of non-English speaking background, people with disabilities, and unrepresented parties.
22. Due to the inaccessibility, or low level, of business in some Tribunals (e.g. the Boxing Appeals Tribunal heard one matter in the period 1986-1998), 12 NSW Tribunals were surveyed. In addition, the anti-discrimination jurisdictions in other States were surveyed.
23. A questionnaire for the Tribunals was developed based on a survey conducted by Professor Jack Goldring in his 1994 survey of Accessibility of Tribunals, and interviews were conducted with Registrars of each of the Tribunals. The questionnaire collected information on Tribunal policy and procedure, and some subjective information on the perceived effectiveness of their policies for accessibility.
24. A meeting of users of the EOT was convened, principally solicitors from the public and private sectors, and barristers and members of the EOT. The consultation provided the opportunity to comment on the EOT's procedures and to make recommendations for change. As this project was an extension of the duty solicitor pilot project, some of the recommendations are drawn from the duty solicitor's experience and contact with unrepresented parties.
Literature search
25. A limited literature review was carried out. This literature is referenced in this report and listed in the Bibliography.
Recommendations
Introduction to the project
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