Life Beyond Legality: Lessons from the EU and UK for an Australian Charter or Principle of Good Administration

Abstract

This article asks whether a Charter of Good Administration (‘CGA’) is a good idea for Australia and gives some substance to proposals for a CGA which have languished in recent years. It discusses some of the issues that a CGA raises, given Australia’s existing administrative law and constitutional framework. In doing so, it observes developments in the EU of a charter ‘right to good administration’ and soft law Code of Good Administrative Behaviour administered by the European Ombudsman, and in the UK of a common law principle of good administration. It also addresses why the UK approach is unlikely to occur in Australia but suggests that recent case law on the scope of judicial review shows that a common law principle of good administration is not entirely closed to us. It argues, however, that the most likely solution is a document that contains matters of legal entitlement and aspirational norms, closest in nature to the UK Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman’s Principles of Good Administration.