Senior Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

Damien O’Donovan is a Senior Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) based in the Canberra Registry.

After graduating from the Australian National University in 1993, Damien enjoyed a long career in legal practice initially at Mallesons and then at the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS). At AGS Damien had a mixed practice covering areas including administrative law, competition law, workers’ compensation, employment law, and international law. Damien appeared as counsel in a variety of jurisdictions including the Tribunal and the Federal Court as well as the World Trade Organisation and a number of Royal Commissions.

Since joining the AAT in 2019, Damien has worked in a wide variety of subject areas across the Tribunal’s divisions. He is Practice Leader in Workers’ Compensation and the Practice Leader in the Tribunal’s Canberra Registry. He has heard and determined cases relating to the NDIS, privacy, the tax treatment of superannuation benefits, protection visa claims, visa cancellations on character grounds, and passport cancellations based on security concerns.

Damien occasionally publishes articles on issues in administrative law. Most recently, he published an article in the Australian Journal of Administrative Law on the enduring significance of the High Court’s decision in Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh (1995) 183 CLR 273 for discretionary decision making.