WA State Administrative Tribunal – On Site List Today

The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) On-Site hearing venue refers to matters listed for hearing at the Tribunal's home in Perth, rather than those conducted by telephone, video link or at a regional circuit location. If you are checking a matter marked "On-Site", your hearing is scheduled to take place in person at the SAT building at 565 Hay Street in the Perth central business district, next to the Perth City Library and the Public Trustee's Office. The daily hearing list published here brings together every matter set down for that venue so you can confirm the time, hearing room, jurisdiction and matter number before you attend.

Knowing whether your matter is On-Site or listed elsewhere matters because SAT sits across several formats. Some directions hearings and mediations are conducted remotely, some final hearings are held on the papers without any attendance, and some matters travel to regional centres such as Albany, Mandurah, Geraldton and Northam when the Tribunal conducts country sittings. An On-Site listing tells you the Tribunal expects the parties, their representatives and any witnesses to appear physically at the Hay Street premises on the listed date.

What the WA State Administrative Tribunal Does

SAT is an independent body that reviews a wide range of government decisions and resolves disputes across Western Australia. It began operating on 1 January 2005 under the State Administrative Tribunal Act 2004, consolidating the review, civil and disciplinary functions of nearly 50 separate vocational and public sector boards, tribunals and courts into a single accessible forum. The Tribunal draws its power from more than 150 enabling Acts of Parliament, each of which confers jurisdiction over a specific type of matter, from multimillion-dollar tax assessments to dog destruction orders.

Importantly, SAT is not a court. Strict rules of evidence do not apply, hearings are designed to be informal and flexible, and the Tribunal actively encourages parties to resolve disputes through mediation and compulsory conferences before any final hearing. The main objectives set out in its founding legislation are to make the correct or preferable decision on the merits of each application, to act quickly and with as little formality and technicality as practicable, and to minimise costs to the parties. That accessibility is a large part of why so many self-represented litigants appear before it each year.

The Four Streams of SAT Jurisdiction

The Tribunal organises its work into distinct jurisdictional streams, each handling a different category of dispute. Understanding which stream your matter falls into helps you read the daily list and prepare for the type of hearing you will face.

• Human Rights (HR) stream: covers guardianship and administration matters under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990, equal opportunity complaints, and decisions under the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019. Roughly half of the Tribunal's guardianship work sits here, and these matters make up a very large share of overall lodgements.
• Vocational Regulation (VR) stream: reviews and disciplinary matters concerning licensed and registered occupations, including the review of decisions made by vocational boards and, since recent conferrals, the regulation of legal practitioners under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA).
• Commercial and Civil (CC) stream: commercial tenancy disputes, retail shop lease matters, strata title disputes, and building and construction claims, including referrals from the Building Commissioner and payment disputes under the Building and Construction (Security of Payments) Act 2021.
• Development and Resources (DR) stream: town planning appeals, local government approvals, compensation claims and resource management matters.

Verified SAT Statistics You Should Know

The Tribunal reports its workload each year to the Attorney General under section 150 of the State Administrative Tribunal Act 2004. These figures give a useful picture of how busy the Tribunal is and how quickly matters move through the system.

• In its 2022/23 reporting year, the number of applications received rose by 2% compared with 2021/22, and was 7% higher than the number received in 2020/21, reflecting steady growth in demand.
• The Commercial and Civil stream saw a large 25% increase in building and construction applications during 2022/23, driven by referrals from the Building Commissioner. These matters tend to be complex, which increased the average time to resolution across the CC list.
• In 2024/25, 31 applications were received under the Equal Opportunity Act, a decrease of 13.9% on the prior year, showing how individual jurisdictions can move in different directions within the same period.
• Applications for the review of existing guardianship and administration orders represented a 9% increase in one recent reporting period, underlining how much of the Tribunal's ongoing work involves reviewing rather than making orders.
• Since its inception on 1 January 2005, every application lodged with SAT has been recorded on the Public Register maintained under section 155 of the Act, providing two decades of transparent record keeping.

Why Guardianship Matters Do Not Appear on the Daily List

If you are searching for a guardianship or administration matter, you will not find it on the public On-Site hearing list. Because of the confidentiality requirements attached to these applications, guardianship and administration matters do not appear on the Daily Hearing List or in future hearings searches. This protects the privacy and dignity of the person the application concerns. To confirm details of a guardianship hearing, you will need your matter number and should contact the Tribunal directly, as that information will appear on correspondence SAT has sent you.

Attending an On-Site Hearing at 565 Hay Street

The Tribunal occupies a purpose-built building in central Perth, with counter inquiries handled on the sixth floor between 8:30am and 4:30pm on business days. If you are attending in person, plan your arrival with security screening in mind. The building uses airport-style scanners, and you may be asked to remove metal items before passing through. Your bags and personal belongings will be screened as well, so allow a few extra minutes before your listed time.

Parking is limited on the street, but several paid parking options operate nearby, and there is a dedicated pickup and drop-off bay directly outside the Tribunal for those being driven or using taxi and rideshare services. The venue is well served by public transport given its position in the heart of the Perth CBD. Tribunal hearings and directions hearings are open to the public, so members of the public, students and journalists may observe, although compulsory conferences and mediation sittings are held in private.

How to Read Your On-Site Listing

Each entry on the daily list typically shows the matter name or, where the name is suppressed to protect the parties, the matter number, along with the hearing type, the stream and the listed time. If a matter name is not displayed, use the matter number from your SAT correspondence to identify your listing. Hearing types you may see include a first directions hearing, a mediation, a compulsory conference, or a final hearing. For guidance on court venues across the rest of the state, the WA court lists directory brings together every jurisdiction in one place.

How SAT Decides a Matter

When SAT reviews a decision, it conducts a fresh hearing on the merits rather than simply checking whether the original decision maker made an error. Because it is not bound by the rules of evidence or by court practices and procedures, the Tribunal can consider new material, including information that did not exist when the original decision was made. The original decision maker must provide SAT with a written statement of reasons together with any relevant documents, and at any point the Tribunal can invite that decision maker to reconsider. The decision maker can then affirm the decision, vary it, or set it aside and substitute a new one.

At the conclusion of a matter, the Tribunal must give reasons for its final decision. A SAT order to pay money can be enforced through a court if it is not paid, and a non-monetary order can be enforced by the Supreme Court of Western Australia. This enforcement pathway gives SAT decisions real practical weight despite the Tribunal's informal, merits-based approach. If your matter involves a related appeal, the Supreme Court of WA hearing lists may also be relevant to follow.

Mediation and Compulsory Conferences

SAT has the power to require parties to attend a compulsory conference, held in private, to clarify the issues in dispute and to promote a resolution before a matter proceeds to a full hearing. All full-time members of the Tribunal are trained mediators or are becoming trained mediators, and facilitated dispute resolution processes are generally used from the outset of a matter wherever they are suitable. Many applications are finalised at this stage, which is one reason a matter listed for a directions hearing may resolve without ever reaching a contested final hearing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "On-Site" mean on the SAT hearing list?

On-Site means your matter is listed to be heard in person at the State Administrative Tribunal building at 565 Hay Street, Perth, rather than by telephone, video link, on the papers, or at a regional circuit venue. You and any representatives or witnesses are expected to attend physically on the listed date.

Is the State Administrative Tribunal a court?

No. SAT is an independent tribunal, not a court. Strict rules of evidence do not apply, proceedings are designed to be informal and flexible, and parties can represent themselves. However, its orders carry legal weight and can be enforced through the courts if necessary.

Why can't I find my guardianship matter on the list?

Guardianship and administration matters are kept confidential and do not appear on the public Daily Hearing List or future hearings searches. Use your matter number from SAT correspondence and contact the Tribunal directly to confirm hearing details.

Can the public attend SAT hearings?

Yes. Tribunal hearings and directions hearings are open to the public. Compulsory conferences and mediation sittings, however, are closed to protect the confidentiality of settlement discussions.

Where else can I check court listings in WA?

Beyond SAT, you can browse listings for the Magistrates, District, Supreme, Family and Coroners courts. The Central Law Courts Perth listings and other venue pages cover the full WA court network, and you can move between them using the WA court listings hub.

Whether you are a solicitor confirming a directions hearing, a self-represented party checking your appearance time, or a member of the public following a matter of interest, the On-Site list here is updated to reflect what is scheduled at the Hay Street venue. Always cross-check your matter number against the entry, arrive early enough to clear security screening, and contact the Tribunal directly if your matter is confidential and does not appear publicly.