A person seeking to obtain judicial review of a Commonwealth Government action must sue the government in the High Court of Australia or the Federal Court of Australia. A person wishing to obtain judicial review of a State Government decision must take an action in the Supreme Court. There is a further appeal from the Supreme Court to the High Court of Australia.

Generally, the High Court and the Supreme Court have established similar review principles on cases involving similar facts. However, with the establishment of the Federal Court, an alternative method to decide a case is set out in the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (Cth). This provides a better alternative to judicial review in the Federal sphere. Unlike the situation in the High Court and the State Supreme Court where the judges look to the long line of case law, the power of judges in the Federal Court is set out in the Act.