NCAT’s procedural direction about Generative AI
01/09/2026
In April 2025 the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) developed its own Procedural Direction regarding the use of Generative AI. The NCAT direction draws from Supreme Court Practice Note Gen 23 and is applicable to all Tribunal proceedings from its commencement date.
The Tribunal does not ban the use of AI in full but does put restrictions on how it can be used, particularly where it is producing what may be evidence in a case. This includes statutory declarations, witness statements, expert evidence or reports. NCAT permits the use generally where AI is helping organise information, so long as personal or private information, including the other parties, is held securely. For anyone using it in the permissible ways, it is important that people review both the guidelines and the material produced carefully before use, and double checking before submitting what AI might have created.
NCAT’s direction states leave can be sought to use generative AI in exceptional circumstances or in some types of written summaries or submissions. Seeking leave and/or following the requisite conditions of NCAT might be more onerous than beneficial.
More info
- For clear guidance about what is considered generative AI, where it can be used and when it is prohibited, take a look at the NCAT Factsheet: Use of Generative AI in Tribunal proceedings and NCAT Procedural Direction 7.
- The Tenants' Union blog article AI and tenancy advice: Helpful tool or hidden risk? also delves into the privacy and data risks in the use of generative AI and ways it can contribute to widespread misinformation.