• Fees/allowances are generally not payable to parties unless the Tribunal orders otherwise (s.13(2)).
• Who pays: if a person was summoned at a party’s request that party pays; otherwise the Commonwealth pays (s.14(1)). The Migration & Refugee Division has a different rule (s.14(3)).
• Timing: fees are to be paid as soon as practicable after attendance; allowances when the summons is given or reasonably before attendance (s.15).

Who is affected and who pays

• Applicants for Tribunal review, parties to Tribunal proceedings, witnesses/summoned persons, the Commonwealth and parties who request witnesses are the principal groups affected. Specific mechanics determine payments and duties:
  • Applicants normally pay the application fee specified by s.20, unless the category is exempted by s.22 or the applicant meets concessional criteria (s.21).
  • Witness fees and allowances: if a witness was summoned at a party’s request that party pays; otherwise the Commonwealth pays (s.14(1)). The Tribunal can order the Commonwealth to pay a party’s witness costs (s.14(2)).
  • Non-payment can halt the Tribunal’s processing of an application (s.24; s.25(3); s.25A(3)).

Practical effects, incentives and administrative discretion

• Fee structure creates explicit monetary signals:
  • The level and differential of fees (standard $920, small business $500, low-value tax $91) make some reviews cheaper or more expensive (s.20). The Tribunal can reclassify fees where it considers the applicant mischaracterised the dispute (ss.25 and 25A), which creates an incentive for applicants to classify their matters correctly.
  • Concessions target a defined set of circumstances (legal aid, concession card holders, children under 18, inmates, financial‑hardship orders by the Registrar) and therefore concentrate reduced fees on those groups (s.21).
  • Indexation (s.27) gradually increases those fees in line with CPI, shifting some cost increases onto applicants over time.
• Procedural and compliance burdens on users:
  • Applicants must give an address for documents when lodging an application (s.16) and keep it updated (s.16(4)). Failure to pay fees within prescribed periods can lead to dismissal (s.24; note re s.69C of the Act).
  • Service rules specify multiple permitted delivery methods and treat electronic communications as given on dispatch (ss.17–18), which can reduce delay but requires participants to monitor those channels.
• Points of administrative discretion and review:
  • The President has discretion to approve forms and determine use of the seal (ss.6–7).
  • The Tribunal and Registrar have discretion across several items: to order who pays witness fees (s.14(2)), to determine fees/allowances where payer and witness cannot agree (s.13(7)), to order one fee for multiple applications (s.23), and to re‑declare fees if the Tribunal finds a different fee applies (ss.25, 25A). Registrar decisions about fee concessions or fee consolidation are subject to review by the Tribunal (s.28).

Trade‑offs and implementation risks (mechanisms, not judgments)

• Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: targeted concessions (s.21) concentrate reduced outlays on specific groups; the cost of processing and subsidising fees falls to other applicants or the Commonwealth depending on who pays (s.14).
• Risk that fee and payment timing rules create procedural dropout: the Tribunal can decline to deal with unpaid applications (s.24), and re‑declaration of fees (ss.25, 25A) imposes additional payment obligations after filing, which may lead applicants to withdraw or face dismissal if they cannot pay.
• Administrative complexity and compliance workload: detailed rules for service (s.17), witness fees and expenses (ss.13–15), multiple fee classes, refunds (s.26) and indexation (s.27) require systems for tracking payments, concessions, electronic addresses and annual fee changes.
• Discretion points concentrate decision-making with Tribunal officials: the President, Registrar and the Tribunal make several determinations affecting costs and process (ss.6–7, 13(7), 14(2), 23, 25–28). Those decisions are partly reviewable (s.28), but they place operational responsibility on the Tribunal's administration.

Why it matters (mechanical significance)

• The regulation operationalises how people access review in the Tribunal: it fixes fees and payment rules, sets how people and agencies receive documents, determines witness cost allocation, prescribes divisions for statute references, and preserves some transitional arrangements. Those mechanics determine transactional costs, timing and administrative obligations for anyone using the Tribunal (see especially Parts 4–6 and ss.16–18).