Our structure

Understand VCAT’s structure, divisions, what they do and who our leaders are.

VCAT is established by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998.

VCAT's president and vice presidents lead the tribunal. They set the strategic direction of our organisation. They also make sure we are efficient and take financial care with how we operate. 

By law, our president is a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. A number of judges from the County Court of Victoria serve as our vice presidents, with at least one usually working full time at VCAT.

Our members are lawyers or other specialists appointed by the Governor in Council to apply the law and make impartial, independent decisions in the cases we hear.

We have five divisions, each led by an experienced member appointed as a deputy president: 

  • Administrative
  • Civil
  • Human Rights
  • Residential Tenancies
  • Planning and Environment. 

We handle similar types of cases through 'lists' within each division. List is the name we give to sections of VCAT that hear and decide specific types of cases.

Our chief executive officer and principal registrar oversees the administration of VCAT, including the registry and corporate services that support deciding cases.

Our president, vice presidents and chief executive officer and principal registrar are supported in their governance roles by a number of key committees:

VCAT Leadership Group (VLG)

Heads of division and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) meet monthly, chaired by the president to discuss tribunal service delivery and performance as well as strategic issues.

Executive Leadership Team (ELT)

The Executive Leadership Team is principally accountable for delivering the administrative services and projects that support the Tribunal to do its core work.