A summons is a legal notice issued by the Tribunal that requires a person to:

• give the Tribunal documents relating to a review; and/or
• attend a hearing and give evidence.

We may issue a summons because we think the information will help us make a decision about a case. 

We may also issue a summons because we were asked to do so by an applicant or a party to a case.

It is a criminal offence if you do not comply with a summons and give us the document or attend a hearing to give evidence if a summons has been properly given to you.

If you have received a summons, you must give the Tribunal what we have asked for on or before the due date specified in the summons or attend the Tribunal at the time and date specified in the summons.

You can give us copies of documents unless the summons states that you must give us original documents. Please tell us if the document you are giving us is the original documents.

Include a copy of the summons with the documents that you give to us.

You can give documents to the Tribunal by:

• using our online document submission system
• sending an email to reviews@art.gov.au
• posting or delivering them to us.

You can contact the person who asked for the summons to be issued if you have any questions about what you have been asked to do. Their contact details can be found at the bottom of the summons form.

You are entitled to be paid reasonable allowances and expenses for complying with the summons.

The expenses must be paid to you by:

• the party who requested that the summons be issued; or
• the Tribunal if we issued the summons without a request from a party.

If you have been summoned to appear before the Tribunal to give evidence you can ask to be to be paid a reasonable allowance or expenses such as transport.

To claim reasonable allowance or expenses to attend a hearing, send an estimate of the costs and supporting documentation to the contact person given on the letter that was sent to you with the summons. 

If you were summoned to produce documents or things, you can claim reasonable expenses such as photocopying or sending.

If you think the amount of expenses paid to you is not enough, you must still comply with the summons. 

You should contact the person who must pay the expenses and discuss the amount. If you cannot reach agreement about the amount of the expenses, you can ask the Tribunal to decide the amount of expenses you should be paid.

If you have been summoned to attend a hearing or to give us documents or things, and you cannot comply for reasons out of your control, you must get in touch with the contact person on the letter you received with your summons as soon as possible before the due date specified on the summons.

Not complying is a criminal offence and you could be imprisoned for 6 months or fined 30 penalty units, or both.

If you do not want to attend the Tribunal to give evidence or give us the documents or thing on the summons that was sent to you, you can object to the summons. You must object as soon as possible after you receive the summons and before the due date specified on the summons. 

Reasons for objecting to a summons might include that you have concerns about:

• attending the hearing
• giving us what you have been asked to in the summons
• a party inspecting what you have been asked to give us.

If you think you should not be required to attend or give us some or any of what you have been asked to give us, you must, as soon as possible after you receive the summons, contact the person who asked for the summons be issued and talk to them about it.

If you cannot reach agreement and you want the Tribunal to make an order that you are not required to comply with some or all of the summons, you must apply to the Tribunal. 

To do this, you will need to write to us at reviews@art.gov.au or send us a letter, to explain what you are objecting to and why.

If you want the Tribunal to make an order that a party not be allowed to inspect some or all of what you give the Tribunal, you must tell us in writing at the same time as giving us what the summons asked you to produce. You must tell us in writing what you do not want to be inspected, by who and why. 

Unless the Tribunal orders otherwise, the parties to the review will be able to inspect and make copies of the documents or things produced in response to a summons. We might give the parties access to the documents electronically.

When the review or any appeal relating to the review has been finalised, the Tribunal will destroy what has been given to it in response to a summons unless:

• they are original documents or things
• you have asked that the documents or things be returned to you.