MOONEE Valley Council has made a strongly worded submission to a review of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which includes a plea for council representatives and objectors to have a right of reply during hearings.

In March last year, Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls asked the president of VCAT, Justice Kevin Bell, to undertake a review of the body.

Part of the review asked councils to make submissions to a discussion paper titled The role of VCAT in a changing world.

The submission stated that the hearing structure was flawed, with objectors and councils always asked to present their case before the permit applicant or developer.

The council submission stated that this affected the balance of a hearing.

It stated: "This allows the proponent to hear the opposing argument and tailor their submission accordingly to address criticisms of the proposal.

"This creates a situation where the proponent has the last word and any false representations made by the proponent cannot be challenged."

The submission was also damning of the tribunal's consistency. "The tribunal member allocated to hear a case will have a bearing on the outcome of the hearing. Different members have very different approaches to issues."

The submission was unanimously supported by the nine councillors present at last Tuesday's meeting.

To improve objectors' access to justice, the submission also called for hearings to be heard in the municipality of the case site or even during an inspection of the site. "In some cases it may be useful to conduct the hearing on the site and allow objectors the opportunity to point out specific concerns."