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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Queensland Civil and
Administrative Tribunal Bill
2009
Queensland
Queensland Civil and Administrative
Tribunal Bill 2009
Contents
Page
Chapter 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4 Tribunal's functions relating to the objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6 Relationship between this Act and enabling Acts generally . . . . . 15
7 Application of Act if modifying provision in enabling Act. . . . . . . . 17
8 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
Division 1 Preliminary
9 Jurisdiction generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Division 2 Original jurisdiction
10 Generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
11 Jurisdiction for minor civil disputes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
12 When jurisdiction for minor civil dispute exercised . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
13 Deciding minor civil dispute generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
14 Awarding interest for minor civil dispute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
15 When jurisdiction conferred by enabling Act exercised . . . . . . . . 23
16 Functions for jurisdiction conferred by enabling Act . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Division 3 Review jurisdiction
17 Generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
18 When review jurisdiction exercised. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
19 Exercising review jurisdiction generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
20 Review involves fresh hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Contents
21 Decision-maker must help tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
22 Effect of review on reviewable decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
23 Inviting decision-maker to reconsider decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
24 Functions for review jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Division 4 Appeal jurisdiction
25 Generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
26 Jurisdiction for decisions of the tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
27 When appeal jurisdiction exercised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Part 2 Practices and procedures
28 Conducting proceedings generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
29 Ensuring proper understanding and regard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
30 Principal registrar to help parties and potential parties . . . . . . . . 32
31 Related criminal or disciplinary action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
32 Proceeding by remote conferencing or on the papers . . . . . . . . . 32
Part 3 Starting proceeding
33 Making an application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
34 Referring matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
35 Acceptance or rejection of application or referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
36 When proceeding starts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
37 Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
38 Prescribed fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Part 4 Parties to a proceeding
39 Parties to original jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
40 Parties to review jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
41 Intervention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
42 Joining parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
43 Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
44 Use of interpreters and other persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
45 General obligation of parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Part 5 Preliminary dealings with proceeding
Division 1 Early end to proceeding
46 Withdrawal of application or referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
47 Dismissing, striking out or deciding if unjustified proceeding or
part .......................................... 42
48 Dismissing, striking out or deciding if party causing
disadvantage .................................. 43
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49 Restriction on new application or referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Division 2 Decision by default
50 Decision by default for debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
51 Setting aside decision by default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Division 3 Transfer
52 Transfer to more appropriate forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
53 Transfer from a court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Division 4 Consolidation or sequence directions
54 Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
55 Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
56 Variation of direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Part 6 Other provisions about a proceeding
Division 1 Procedural powers
57 General powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
58 Interim orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
59 Injunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
60 Declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
61 Relief from procedural requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
62 Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
63 Obtaining a document or thing from third parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
64 Amending particular documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
65 Dealing with documents and other things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
66 Non-publication orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 2 Compulsory conferences
67 Direction by tribunal or principal registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
68 Personal or representative attendance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
69 Purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
70 Procedure generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
71 Orders and directions generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
72 Party fails to attend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
73 Member or adjudicator presiding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
74 Inadmissibility of particular evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Division 3 Mediation
75 Referral by tribunal or principal registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
76 Personal or representative attendance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
77 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
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78 Procedure generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
79 Who may be a mediator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
80 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
81 Member or adjudicator conducting mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
82 Notification of outcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
83 Inadmissibility of particular evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Division 4 Settlement and accepted offers to settle
84 Settlement in compulsory conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
85 Settlement at mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
86 Settlement other than in compulsory conference or at mediation 67
87 Limitation on making order giving effect to settlement . . . . . . . . . 67
88 Effect of order giving effect to settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
89 Consequences if accepted offer to settle is not complied with . . . 68
Division 5 Hearings
90 Public hearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
91 Support person may be allowed in private hearing . . . . . . . . . . . 69
92 Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
93 Deciding in absence of person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
94 Expedited hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
95 Evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
96 Authorising taking of evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
97 Requiring witness to attend or produce document or thing . . . . . 73
98 Powers relating to witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
99 Dealing with special witnesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Division 6 Costs
100 Each party usually bears own costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
101 Limitation for children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
102 Costs against party in interests of justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
103 Costs against representative in interests of justice . . . . . . . . . . . 77
104 Costs against intervening parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
105 Other power to award costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
106 Costs awarded at any stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
107 Fixing or assessing costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
108 Staying proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
109 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
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Division 7 Assessors
110 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
111 Helping the tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
112 Costs for assessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
113 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Part 7 Decisions and enforcement
Division 1 Making decision
114 Conditions and ancillary orders and directions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
115 More than 1 member constitutes tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
116 Deciding question of law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
117 Referring question of law to president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
118 Referring question of law to Court of Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
119 Decision to be given within a reasonable time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Division 2 Giving decision etc.
120 Giving decision or notice to particular persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
121 Giving final decision other than in an appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
122 Request for written reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
123 Transcript or audio recording is sufficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
124 Confidentiality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
125 Publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Division 3 Effect of decision and its validity
126 Effect of decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
127 When decision takes effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
128 Procedural defects etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Division 4 Enforcing final decision
129 Definition for div 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
130 Application of Limitation of Actions Act 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
131 Monetary decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
132 Non-monetary decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Division 5 Renewal of final decision
133 Application for renewal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
134 Renewed final decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Division 6 Correcting mistakes
135 Tribunal may correct mistake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Division 7 Reopening
136 Application of div 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
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137 Definitions for div 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
138 Application to reopen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
139 Deciding whether to reopen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
140 Effect of decision to reopen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
141 No appeal until application finally dealt with. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Part 8 Appeals etc.
Division 1 Appeals to appeal tribunal
142 Party may appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
143 Appealing or applying for leave to appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
144 Transfer to Court of Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
145 Effect of appeal on decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
146 Deciding appeal on question of law only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
147 Deciding appeal on question of fact or mixed law and fact. . . . . . 101
148 Giving final decision in an appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Division 2 Appeals to Court of Appeal
149 Party may appeal--decisions of tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
150 Party may appeal--decisions of appeal tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
151 Appealing or applying for leave to appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
152 Effect of appeal on decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
153 Deciding appeal on question of law only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
154 Deciding appeal on question of fact or mixed law and fact. . . . . . 104
Division 3 Miscellaneous
155 Particular documents to be given to Court of Appeal . . . . . . . . . . 105
156 Application of Judicial Review Act 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Chapter 3 Reasons to be given for reviewable decisions
157 Information notice to be given . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
158 Obtaining statement of reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
159 Tribunal order requiring statement of reasons be given . . . . . . . . 108
160 Further statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 1 Establishment of tribunal
161 Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
162 Independence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
163 Operating throughout Queensland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
164 Tribunal is a court of record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
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Part 2 Constitution of tribunal
165 Constitution generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
166 Constitution of appeal tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
167 Choosing persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
168 Reconstitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
169 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
170 Presiding member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Part 3 Members of tribunal
Division 1 General
171 The members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Division 2 The president and deputy president
172 President's functions generally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
173 Directions for president's function about training . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
174 Deputy president's functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
175 Appointment of the president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
176 Appointment of the deputy president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
177 Conditions of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
178 Vacancy of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
179 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
180 Acting president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
181 Acting deputy president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
182 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Division 3 Senior members and ordinary members
183 Appointment of senior members and ordinary members . . . . . . . 122
184 Criminal history checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
185 Disclosure of changes in criminal history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
186 Conditions of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
187 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
188 Removal from office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
189 Suspension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
190 Investigation of suspended member. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
191 Acting senior members and ordinary members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Division 4 Supplementary members
192 Appointment of supplementary members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
193 Vacancy of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
194 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
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Part 4 Adjudicators
195 Functions generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
196 Independence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
197 Referring matters to president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
198 Appointment of adjudicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
199 Criminal history checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
200 Disclosure of changes in criminal history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
201 Conditions of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
202 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
203 Removal from office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
204 Suspension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
205 Investigation of suspended adjudicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
206 Acting adjudicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Part 5 The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Registry
207 Registry established . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
208 Appointment of officers and staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
209 Role of chief executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
210 Principal registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
211 Registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
212 Principal registrar must disclose interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 5 General
Part 1 Offences and contempt
213 Contravening decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
214 Offences by witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
215 Warrant may be issued if witness does not attend . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
216 False or misleading information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
217 Influencing participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
218 Contempt of tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
219 Punishment of contempt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
220 Tribunal may exclude person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
221 Person not to be punished twice for same conduct . . . . . . . . . . . 146
222 Court's powers relating to person contravening non-publication
order ........................................... 147
Part 2 Rules committee, rules and practice directions
223 The rules committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
224 Rule-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
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225 Rules are exempt from automatic expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
226 Practice directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Part 3 Miscellaneous provisions
Division 1 Operation of tribunal
227 Arrangements with ombudsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
228 Oath of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
229 Register of proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
230 Record for proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
231 Trust account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
232 Annual report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Division 2 Confidentiality
233 Confidentiality generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
234 Further limitation on disclosure to a court etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Division 3 Evidentiary provisions
235 Appointment and authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
236 Signatures and documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Division 4 Protection from liability
237 Immunity of participants etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
238 Protection from civil liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Division 5 Other provisions
239 Contracting out prohibited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
240 Review of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
241 Approved forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
242 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Chapter 6 Repeal provision
243 Repeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Chapter 7 Transitional provisions
Part 1 Preliminary
244 Definitions for ch 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
245 What is a pending proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
246 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, s 20 not limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Part 2 Transitional provisions about former tribunals
Division 1 Abolition and related matters
247 Abolition of former tribunals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
248 QCAT is legal successor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
249 Assets and liabilities etc. of a former tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
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250 Proceeding not yet started by or against a former tribunal. . . . . . 166
251 Proceeding to which a former tribunal was a party . . . . . . . . . . . 166
252 Existing final decisions of a former tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
253 Records of former tribunals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
254 References to former tribunals etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Division 2 Proceeding not yet started before former tribunal
255 QCAT may deal with proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Division 3 Proceeding started before former tribunal
256 Pending proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
257 Other proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Division 4 Appeal against decision of a former tribunal
258 Appeal yet to be started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
259 Appeal started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
260 Effect of court's decision in appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Division 5 Other matters
261 Particular request of former Children Services Tribunal . . . . . . . . 172
262 Annual reports for former tribunals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
263 Transferring membership of particular members . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
264 Particular offences continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
265 Confidentiality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
266 Particular penalties payable to particular entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Part 3 Transitional provisions about continuing entities
267 Proceeding not yet started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
268 Proceeding started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Part 4 Conducting proceeding from former tribunal or continuing
entity
269 Application of pt 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
270 Definition for pt 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
271 Conduct of proceeding generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
272 Time limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
273 Withdrawal of existing proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
274 Related proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
275 Inconsistencies and other difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Part 5 Other transitional provisions
276 Information notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
277 Initial rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
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278 Transitional regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
279 Effect of subordinate legislation amendments in QCAT
Amendment Act ................................... 188
Schedule 1 Former tribunals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Schedule 2 Subject matter for rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
1 Functions of principal registrar and registrars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
2 Divisions and lists of the tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
3 Constitution of the tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
4 Starting proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
5 Transfers of matters and appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6 Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
7 Service of notices or other documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
8 Responses to applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
9 Ending proceedings early. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
10 Documents or evidence to be filed or produced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11 Disclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
12 Evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
13 Compulsory conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
14 Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
15 Reserved decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
16 Hearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
17 Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
18 Renewing final decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
19 Correcting mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
20 Reopening proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
21 Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
22 Applying court rules about contempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
23 Register of proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
24 Electronic transmissions etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Schedule 3 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Page 11
2009
A Bill
for
An Act to establish the Queensland Civil and Administrative
Tribunal, to provide for the making and reviewing of particular
decisions by the tribunal, and for other matters relating to the
tribunal
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Chapter 1 Preliminary 2
1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Queensland Civil and 4
Administrative Tribunal Act 2009. 5
2 Commencement 6
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 7
3 Objects 8
The objects of this Act are-- 9
(a) to establish an independent tribunal to deal with the 10
matters it is empowered to deal with under this Act or an 11
enabling Act; and 12
(b) to have the tribunal deal with matters in a way that is 13
accessible, fair, just, economical, informal and quick; 14
and 15
(c) to promote the quality and consistency of tribunal 16
decisions; and 17
(d) to enhance the quality and consistency of decisions 18
made by decision-makers; and 19
(e) to enhance the openness and accountability of public 20
administration. 21
4 Tribunal's functions relating to the objects 22
To achieve the objects of this Act, the tribunal must-- 23
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
[s 5]
(a) facilitate access to its services throughout Queensland; 1
and 2
(b) encourage the early and economical resolution of 3
disputes before the tribunal, including, if appropriate, 4
through alternative dispute resolution processes; and 5
(c) ensure proceedings are conducted in an informal way 6
that minimises costs to parties, and is as quick as is 7
consistent with achieving justice; and 8
(d) ensure like cases are treated alike; and 9
(e) ensure the tribunal is accessible and responsive to the 10
diverse needs of persons who use the tribunal; and 11
(f) maintain specialist knowledge, expertise and experience 12
of members and adjudicators; and 13
(g) ensure the appropriate use of the knowledge, expertise 14
and experience of members and adjudicators; and 15
(h) encourage members and adjudicators to act in a way that 16
promotes the collegiate nature of the tribunal; and 17
(i) maintain a cohesive organisational structure. 18
5 Act binds all persons 19
This Act binds all persons, including the State and, as far as 20
the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the 21
Commonwealth and the other States. 22
6 Relationship between this Act and enabling Acts 23
generally 24
(1) This Act provides for the tribunal's jurisdiction and related 25
functions, and the practices and procedures for proceedings 26
before the tribunal. 27
(2) An enabling Act is-- 28
(a) an Act, other than this Act, that confers original, review 29
or appeal jurisdiction on the tribunal; or 30
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
[s 6]
(b) subordinate legislation, other than subordinate 1
legislation under this Act, that confers review 2
jurisdiction on the tribunal. 3
(3) An enabling Act conferring original jurisdiction on the 4
tribunal will generally state the tribunal's functions in the 5
jurisdiction, which may add to, otherwise vary, or exclude 6
functions stated in this Act. 7
(4) An enabling Act that is an Act conferring review jurisdiction 8
on the tribunal may state the tribunal's functions in the 9
jurisdiction, which may add to, otherwise vary, or exclude 10
functions stated in this Act. 11
(5) An enabling Act conferring review jurisdiction on the tribunal 12
may also confer jurisdiction on the tribunal to stay a decision 13
made under the enabling Act while the decision is being 14
reviewed under the enabling Act by an entity other than the 15
tribunal. 16
(6) An enabling Act conferring appeal jurisdiction on the tribunal 17
may state the tribunal's functions in the jurisdiction, which 18
may add to, otherwise vary, or exclude functions stated in this 19
Act. 20
(7) An enabling Act that is an Act may also include provisions 21
about the following matters, which may add to, otherwise 22
vary, or exclude provisions of this Act about the matters-- 23
(a) requirements about applications, referrals or appeals for 24
jurisdiction conferred by the enabling Act; 25
Examples-- 26
· the period within which an application, referral or appeal 27
must be made 28
· documents required to accompany an application, referral or 29
appeal 30
(b) the conduct of proceedings for jurisdiction conferred by 31
the enabling Act, including practices and procedures, 32
and the tribunal's powers, for the proceedings; 33
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
[s 7]
Examples-- 1
· the availability or non-availability of stays of the operation 2
of a decision the subject of a proceeding 3
· persons who must be notified of a proceeding, a hearing of a 4
proceeding or the tribunal's decision in a proceeding 5
· additional persons who are a party to a proceeding 6
· persons who may be represented in a proceeding without 7
the tribunal's leave 8
· hearings that must be held in private 9
(c) the enforcement of the tribunal's decisions in a 10
proceeding for jurisdiction conferred by the enabling 11
Act. 12
(8) This section does not limit another provision of this Act 13
authorising an enabling Act to provide for a particular matter. 14
(9) To remove any doubt, it is declared that an enabling Act that is 15
subordinate legislation-- 16
(a) may only confer jurisdiction, including jurisdiction to 17
stay a decision, on the tribunal; and 18
(b) can not add to, otherwise vary, or exclude anything 19
provided in this Act or an enabling Act that is an Act. 20
7 Application of Act if modifying provision in enabling Act 21
(1) This section applies if a provision of an enabling Act (the 22
modifying provision) provides for-- 23
(a) the tribunal's functions in jurisdiction conferred by the 24
enabling Act; or 25
(b) a matter mentioned in section 6(7). 26
(2) The modifying provision prevails over the provisions of this 27
Act, to the extent of any inconsistency between them. 28
(3) This Act must be read, with any necessary changes, as if the 29
modifying provision were a part of this Act. 30
(4) Without limiting subsection (3)-- 31
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
[s 8]
(a) in a provision of this Act relating to a person starting a 1
proceeding, a reference to the person doing something 2
under this Act is taken to be a reference to the person 3
doing the thing under this Act or a modifying provision; 4
and 5
(b) in a provision of this Act relating to the tribunal 6
conducting a proceeding, a reference to the tribunal 7
doing something under this Act is taken to be a 8
reference to the tribunal doing the thing under this Act 9
or a modifying provision. 10
(5) This section does not prevent an enabling Act from expressly 11
stating how this Act applies in relation to the modifying 12
provision, including, for example, by stating that stated 13
provisions of this Act do not apply, or apply subject to stated 14
variations. 15
(6) In this section-- 16
enabling Act means an enabling Act that is an Act. 17
8 Definitions 18
The dictionary in schedule 3 defines particular words used in 19
this Act. 20
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
[s 9]
Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure 1
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal 2
Division 1 Preliminary 3
9 Jurisdiction generally 4
(1) The tribunal has jurisdiction to deal with matters it is 5
empowered to deal with under this Act or an enabling Act. 6
(2) Jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal is-- 7
(a) original jurisdiction; or 8
(b) review jurisdiction; or 9
(c) appeal jurisdiction. 10
(3) Without limiting the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 11
49A, an enabling Act confers jurisdiction on the tribunal to 12
deal with a matter if the enabling Act provides for an 13
application, referral or appeal to be made to the tribunal in 14
relation to the matter. 15
(4) The tribunal may do all things necessary or convenient for 16
exercising its jurisdiction. 17
Division 2 Original jurisdiction 18
10 Generally 19
(1) The tribunal's original jurisdiction is-- 20
(a) the jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal by section 11; 21
and 22
(b) the jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal under an 23
enabling Act to decide a matter in the first instance. 24
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Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
[s 11]
(2) The tribunal's original jurisdiction under subsection (1)(b) 1
includes jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal under an 2
enabling Act to review a decision of the tribunal made under 3
the enabling Act. 4
Note-- 5
See, for example-- 6
(a) the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000, chapter 3, part 3, 7
division 2; or 8
(b) the Health Practitioners (Professional Standards) Act 1999, section 9
337. 10
11 Jurisdiction for minor civil disputes 11
The tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and decide a minor civil 12
dispute. 13
12 When jurisdiction for minor civil dispute exercised 14
(1) The tribunal may exercise its jurisdiction for a minor civil 15
dispute if a relevant person has, under this Act, applied to the 16
tribunal to deal with the dispute. 17
(2) A relevant person may, as provided for in subsection (3), 18
agree to limit the person's claim to the prescribed amount in 19
order to bring the claim within the tribunal's jurisdiction for a 20
minor civil dispute. 21
(3) A relevant person limits the person's claim to the prescribed 22
amount by applying to the tribunal to deal with the claim as a 23
minor civil dispute. 24
(4) In this section-- 25
relevant person means-- 26
(a) for a claim to recover a debt or liquidated demand of 27
money--a person to whom the debt is owed or money is 28
payable; or 29
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
[s 13]
(b) subject to paragraphs (c) to (g), for a claim arising out of 1
a contract between a consumer and a trader--the 2
consumer; or 3
(c) for a claim arising out of a contract between 2 or more 4
traders--any of the traders; or 5
(d) for a claim for payment of an amount for damage to 6
property caused by, or arising out of the use of, a 7
vehicle--a person incurring loss because of the damage; 8
or 9
(e) for a claim for repair of a defect in a motor vehicle under 10
the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000, 11
section 248 or 324--the buyer of the vehicle; or 12
(f) for a tenancy matter--a person who, under the 13
Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation 14
Act 2008, may apply to the tribunal for a decision in 15
relation to the matter; or 16
(g) for a claim that is the subject of a dispute under the 17
Dividing Fences Act 1953--a party to the dispute. 18
13 Deciding minor civil dispute generally 19
(1) In a proceeding for a minor civil dispute, the tribunal must 20
make orders that it considers fair and equitable to the parties 21
to the proceeding in order to resolve the dispute but may, if the 22
tribunal considers it appropriate, make an order dismissing the 23
application. 24
(2) For subsection (1), the tribunal may make only the following 25
final decisions to resolve the dispute-- 26
(a) for a claim mentioned in schedule 3, definition minor 27
civil dispute, paragraph 1(a), (b), (c) or (d)-- 28
(i) an order requiring a party to the proceeding to pay 29
a stated amount to a stated person; or 30
(ii) an order that a stated amount is not due or owing 31
by the applicant to a stated person, or by any party 32
to the proceeding to the applicant; or 33
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
[s 13]
(iii) an order requiring a party to the proceeding, other 1
than the applicant, to perform work to rectify a 2
defect in goods or services to which the claim 3
relates; or 4
(iv) an order requiring a party to the proceeding to 5
return goods that relate to the claim and are in the 6
party's possession or control to a stated person; or 7
(v) an order combining 2 or more orders mentioned in 8
subparagraphs (i) to (iv); 9
(b) for a tenancy matter--a decision the tribunal may make 10
in relation to the matter under the Residential Tenancies 11
and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008; 12
(c) for a claim that is the subject of a dispute under the 13
Dividing Fences Act 1953--an order a Magistrates 14
Court could make in relation to the claim under that Act. 15
(3) However, the tribunal can not make an order or decision under 16
subsection (2) that-- 17
(a) purports to require payment of an amount, performance 18
of work or return of goods of a value of more than the 19
prescribed amount; or 20
(b) purports to grant relief of a value of more than the 21
prescribed amount from the payment of an amount; or 22
(c) combines 2 or more orders mentioned in subsection 23
(2)(a)(i) to (iv) and purports to award or declare 24
entitlements or benefits (or both) of a total value of more 25
than the prescribed amount. 26
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to-- 27
(a) a claim for repair of a defect in a motor vehicle under 28
the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000, 29
section 324; or 30
(b) a tenancy matter. 31
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Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
[s 14]
Note-- 1
See the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2
2008, section 516 for tenancy matters involving amounts greater 3
than the prescribed amount. 4
14 Awarding interest for minor civil dispute 5
(1) This section applies in relation to a minor civil dispute 6
involving a claim to recover a debt or liquidated demand of 7
money. 8
(2) However, this section does not apply in relation to a minor 9
civil dispute involving a claim to recover a debt or liquidated 10
demand of money on which interest is payable as of right 11
whether because of an agreement or otherwise. 12
(3) The tribunal may order that there be included in the amount 13
payable under the tribunal's order under section 13 for the 14
dispute interest at the rate the tribunal considers appropriate-- 15
(a) for all or part of the amount; and 16
(b) for all or part of the period between the date when the 17
dispute arose and the date the tribunal made its order 18
under section 13. 19
(4) This section does not authorise the giving of interest on 20
interest. 21
15 When jurisdiction conferred by enabling Act exercised 22
The tribunal may exercise its original jurisdiction conferred 23
by an enabling Act if-- 24
(a) a person has, under this Act, applied to the tribunal to 25
exercise its original jurisdiction; or 26
(b) a person has, under this Act, referred a matter to the 27
tribunal to exercise its original jurisdiction. 28
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Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 1 Jurisdiction of tribunal
[s 16]
16 Functions for jurisdiction conferred by enabling Act 1
In exercising its original jurisdiction conferred by an enabling 2
Act, the tribunal may perform the functions conferred on the 3
tribunal by this Act or the enabling Act. 4
Division 3 Review jurisdiction 5
17 Generally 6
(1) The tribunal's review jurisdiction is the jurisdiction conferred 7
on the tribunal by an enabling Act to review a decision made 8
or taken to have been made by another entity under that Act. 9
(2) For this Act, a decision mentioned in subsection (1) is a 10
reviewable decision and the entity that made or is taken to 11
have made the decision is the decision-maker for the 12
reviewable decision. 13
18 When review jurisdiction exercised 14
(1) The tribunal may exercise its review jurisdiction if a person 15
has, under this Act, applied to the tribunal to exercise its 16
review jurisdiction for a reviewable decision. 17
(2) A person may apply to the tribunal to exercise its review 18
jurisdiction for a reviewable decision, and the tribunal may 19
deal with the application, even if the decision is also the 20
subject of a complaint, preliminary inquiry or investigation 21
under the Ombudsman Act 2001. 22
19 Exercising review jurisdiction generally 23
In exercising its review jurisdiction, the tribunal-- 24
(a) must decide the review in accordance with this Act and 25
the enabling Act under which the reviewable decision 26
being reviewed was made; and 27
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(b) may perform the functions conferred on the tribunal by 1
this Act or the enabling Act under which the reviewable 2
decision being reviewed was made; and 3
(c) has all the functions of the decision-maker for the 4
reviewable decision being reviewed. 5
20 Review involves fresh hearing 6
(1) The purpose of the review of a reviewable decision is to 7
produce the correct and preferable decision. 8
(2) The tribunal must hear and decide a review of a reviewable 9
decision by way of a fresh hearing on the merits. 10
21 Decision-maker must help tribunal 11
(1) In a proceeding for the review of a reviewable decision, the 12
decision-maker for the reviewable decision must use his or her 13
best endeavours to help the tribunal so that it can make its 14
decision on the review. 15
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the decision-maker must 16
provide the following to the tribunal within a reasonable 17
period of not more than 28 days after the decision-maker is 18
given a copy of the application for the review under section 19
37-- 20
(a) a written statement of the reasons for the decision; 21
(b) any document or thing in the decision-maker's 22
possession or control that may be relevant to the 23
tribunal's review of the decision. 24
(3) If the tribunal considers there are additional documents or 25
things in the decision-maker's possession or control that may 26
be relevant to the tribunal's review of the reviewable decision, 27
the tribunal may, by written notice, require the decision-maker 28
to provide the documents or things. 29
(4) If the tribunal considers the statement of reasons given under 30
subsection (2)(a) is not adequate, the tribunal may, by written 31
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notice, require the decision-maker to give the tribunal an 1
additional statement containing stated further particulars. 2
(5) The decision-maker must comply with a notice given under 3
subsection (3) or (4) within the period stated in the notice. 4
(6) A requirement under this section that the decision-maker give 5
the tribunal information or a document or other thing applies 6
despite any provision in an Act prohibiting or restricting the 7
disclosure of the information or the information contained in 8
the document or thing. 9
Notes-- 10
1 Under section 66, the tribunal may make an order prohibiting the 11
publication of the information, or the information contained in the 12
document or thing, other than in the way and to the persons stated 13
in the order. 14
2 Under section 90(2), the tribunal may direct a hearing, or a part of a 15
hearing, in which the information, or information contained in the 16
document or thing, is disclosed to be held in private. 17
22 Effect of review on reviewable decision 18
(1) The start of a proceeding for the review of a reviewable 19
decision under this Act does not affect the operation of the 20
decision or prevent the implementation of the decision. 21
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply if-- 22
(a) an enabling Act that is an Act provides otherwise; or 23
(b) the tribunal has made an order staying the operation of 24
the reviewable decision under this section and the order 25
is still in effect. 26
(3) The tribunal may, on application of a party or on its own 27
initiative, make an order staying the operation of a reviewable 28
decision if a proceeding for the review of the decision has 29
started under this Act. 30
(4) The tribunal may make an order under subsection (3) only if it 31
considers the order is desirable after having regard to the 32
following-- 33
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(a) the interests of any person whose interests may be 1
affected by the making of the order or the order not 2
being made; 3
(b) any submission made to the tribunal by the 4
decision-maker for the reviewable decision; 5
(c) the public interest. 6
(5) Subsection (4)(a) does not require the tribunal to give a person 7
whose interests may be affected by the making of the order, or 8
the order not being made, an opportunity to make submissions 9
for the tribunal's consideration if it is satisfied it is not 10
practicable because of the urgency of the case or for another 11
reason. 12
(6) In making an order under subsection (3), the tribunal-- 13
(a) may require an undertaking, including an undertaking as 14
to costs or damages, it considers appropriate; or 15
(b) may provide for the lifting of the order if stated 16
conditions are met. 17
(7) The tribunal may assess damages for subsection (6)(a). 18
(8) The tribunal's power to assess damages under subsection (7) 19
is exercisable only by a legally qualified member. 20
23 Inviting decision-maker to reconsider decision 21
(1) At any stage of a proceeding for the review of a reviewable 22
decision, the tribunal may invite the decision-maker for the 23
decision to reconsider the decision. 24
(2) If the decision-maker for a reviewable decision is invited to 25
reconsider the decision under subsection (1), the 26
decision-maker-- 27
(a) has 28 days to reconsider the decision; and 28
(b) may-- 29
(i) confirm the decision; or 30
(ii) amend the decision; or 31
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(iii) set aside the decision and substitute a new 1
decision. 2
(3) If, under subsection (2), the decision-maker for a reviewable 3
decision confirms the decision, the proceeding for the review 4
of the decision must continue. 5
(4) If, under subsection (2), the decision-maker for a reviewable 6
decision (first decision) amends the decision or sets the 7
decision aside and substitutes another decision for it-- 8
(a) the first decision as amended or the decision substituted 9
for the first decision is taken to be the reviewable 10
decision for this Act and the enabling Act; and 11
(b) the review must continue for the reviewable decision 12
unless the applicant for the review withdraws the 13
application for review; and 14
(c) if a person other than the applicant applies to the 15
tribunal to review the reviewable decision--the tribunal 16
may hear and decide each application for the review of 17
the reviewable decision. 18
24 Functions for review jurisdiction 19
(1) In a proceeding for a review of a reviewable decision, the 20
tribunal may-- 21
(a) confirm or amend the decision; or 22
(b) set aside the decision and substitute its own decision; or 23
(c) set aside the decision and return the matter for 24
reconsideration to the decision-maker for the decision, 25
with the directions the tribunal considers appropriate. 26
(2) The tribunal's decision under subsection (1)(a) or (b) for a 27
reviewable decision-- 28
(a) is taken to be a decision of the decision-maker for the 29
reviewable decision except for the tribunal's review 30
jurisdiction or an appeal under part 8; and 31
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(b) subject to any contrary order of the tribunal, has effect 1
from when the reviewable decision takes or took effect. 2
(3) The tribunal may make, to the chief executive of the entity in 3
which the reviewable decision was made, written 4
recommendations about the policies, practices and procedures 5
applying to reviewable decisions of the same kind. 6
(4) If the tribunal makes written recommendations under 7
subsection (3) and the chief executive is not the 8
decision-maker for the reviewable decision, the tribunal must 9
give a copy of the recommendations to the decision-maker. 10
(5) In this section-- 11
chief executive includes chief executive officer. 12
Division 4 Appeal jurisdiction 13
25 Generally 14
The tribunal's appeal jurisdiction is-- 15
(a) the jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal by section 26; 16
and 17
(b) the jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal by an enabling 18
Act to hear and decide an appeal against a decision of 19
another entity under that Act. 20
26 Jurisdiction for decisions of the tribunal 21
The tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and decide an appeal 22
against a decision of the tribunal in the circumstances 23
mentioned in section 142. 24
27 When appeal jurisdiction exercised 25
The tribunal may exercise its appeal jurisdiction if a person 26
has, under this Act or an enabling Act, appealed to the tribunal 27
against a decision for which it has appeal jurisdiction. 28
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Note-- 1
Part 8, division 1 provides for how an appeal is made under this Act and 2
how the tribunal's appeal jurisdiction is exercised. 3
Part 2 Practices and procedures 4
28 Conducting proceedings generally 5
(1) The procedure for a proceeding is at the discretion of the 6
tribunal, subject to this Act, an enabling Act and the rules. 7
(2) In all proceedings, the tribunal must act fairly and according 8
to the substantial merits of the case. 9
(3) In conducting a proceeding, the tribunal-- 10
(a) must observe the rules of natural justice; and 11
(b) is not bound by the rules of evidence, or any practices or 12
procedures applying to courts of record, other than to 13
the extent the tribunal adopts the rules, practices or 14
procedures; and 15
(c) may inform itself in any way it considers appropriate; 16
and 17
(d) must act with as little formality and technicality and 18
with as much speed as the requirements of this Act, an 19
enabling Act or the rules and a proper consideration of 20
the matters before the tribunal permit; and 21
(e) must ensure, so far as is practicable, that all relevant 22
material is disclosed to the tribunal to enable it to decide 23
the proceeding with all the relevant facts. 24
(4) Without limiting subsection (3)(b), the tribunal may admit 25
into evidence the contents of any document despite the 26
noncompliance with any time limit or other requirement under 27
this Act, an enabling Act or the rules relating to the document 28
or the service of it. 29
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29 Ensuring proper understanding and regard 1
(1) The tribunal must take all reasonable steps to-- 2
(a) ensure each party to a proceeding understands-- 3
(i) the practices and procedures of the tribunal; and 4
(ii) the nature of assertions made in the proceeding and 5
the legal implications of the assertions; and 6
(iii) any decision of the tribunal relating to the 7
proceeding; and 8
(b) understand the actions, expressed views and assertions 9
of a party to or witness in the proceeding, having regard 10
to the party's or witness's age, any disability, and 11
cultural, religious and socioeconomic background; and 12
(c) ensure proceedings are conducted in a way that 13
recognises and is responsive to-- 14
(i) cultural diversity, Aboriginal tradition and Island 15
custom, including the needs of a party to or witness 16
in the proceeding who is from another culture or 17
linguistic background or is an Aboriginal person or 18
Torres Strait Islander; and 19
(ii) the needs of a party to, or witness in, the 20
proceeding who is a child or a person with 21
impaired capacity or a physical disability. 22
(2) The steps that can be taken for ensuring a person understands 23
something mentioned in subsection (1)(a) include, for 24
example-- 25
(a) explaining the matters to the person; or 26
(b) having an interpreter or other person able to 27
communicate effectively with the person give the 28
explanation; or 29
(c) supplying an explanatory note in English or another 30
language. 31
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30 Principal registrar to help parties and potential parties 1
The principal registrar must give parties and potential parties 2
reasonable help to ensure their understanding of the tribunal's 3
practices and procedures, including, for example, reasonable 4
help to complete forms required under this Act or the rules. 5
31 Related criminal or disciplinary action 6
(1) This section applies if matters arising in a proceeding involve 7
the contravention, or the alleged contravention, of an Act by a 8
person. 9
(2) Unless an enabling Act that is an Act provides otherwise, the 10
tribunal may make its final decision in the proceeding whether 11
or not the person-- 12
(a) has been charged with, convicted of or sentenced for an 13
offence arising out of the contravention; or 14
(b) may be, is, or has been, subject to disciplinary action 15
(including a proceeding before the tribunal) relating to 16
the contravention under an Act. 17
32 Proceeding by remote conferencing or on the papers 18
(1) The tribunal may, if appropriate, conduct all or a part of a 19
proceeding by remote conferencing. 20
(2) The tribunal may, if appropriate, conduct all or a part of a 21
proceeding entirely on the basis of documents, without the 22
parties, their representatives or witnesses appearing at a 23
hearing. 24
(3) If the tribunal conducts a proceeding under subsection (1) or 25
(2), the tribunal must ensure the public has access to, or is 26
precluded from access to, matters disclosed in the proceeding 27
to the same extent as if the proceeding had been heard before 28
the tribunal with the attendance in person of all persons 29
involved. 30
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(4) Provisions of this Act applying to a hearing apply with 1
necessary changes in relation to a proceeding conducted under 2
subsection (1) or (2). 3
Examples-- 4
1 If a hearing is conducted under subsection (1), section 90 continues 5
to apply to the proceeding as if the participants in the hearing were 6
present before the tribunal. 7
2 If a hearing is conducted under subsection (2), section 92 will have 8
no application. 9
(5) In this section-- 10
remote conferencing means-- 11
(a) teleconferencing; or 12
(b) video conferencing; or 13
(c) another form of communication that allows persons 14
taking part in the proceeding to hear and take part in 15
discussions as they happen. 16
Part 3 Starting proceeding 17
33 Making an application 18
(1) This section applies if this Act or an enabling Act provides 19
that a person may apply to the tribunal to deal with a matter. 20
(2) The application must-- 21
(a) be in a form substantially complying with the rules; and 22
(b) state the reasons for the application; and 23
(c) be filed in the registry. 24
(3) If the application is for the review of a reviewable decision, 25
the application must be made, by filing it in the registry, 26
within 28 days after the relevant day. 27
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Notes-- 1
1 Under section 6(7), an enabling Act that is an Act may provide for a 2
different period within which a person must make an application. 3
2 Under section 61, the tribunal may extend the period within which a 4
person must make an application. 5
(4) In this section-- 6
relevant day, for an application for the review of a reviewable 7
decision, means-- 8
(a) the day the applicant is notified of the decision; or 9
(b) if the applicant has applied to the decision-maker for a 10
written statement of reasons for the decision under 11
section 158--the earlier of the following days-- 12
(i) the day the written statement is given to the 13
applicant; 14
(ii) the day by which the written statement is required 15
to be given to the applicant under that section; or 16
(c) if the applicant has applied to the tribunal for an order 17
under section 159-- 18
(i) if the tribunal makes the order--the earlier of the 19
following days-- 20
(A) the day the written statement of reasons the 21
subject of the order is given to the applicant; 22
(B) the day by which the written statement of 23
reasons the subject of the order is required to 24
be given to the applicant under the order; or 25
(ii) if the tribunal does not make the order--the day 26
the applicant is notified of the tribunal's decision to 27
not make the order. 28
34 Referring matter 29
(1) This section applies if an enabling Act provides for the 30
referral of a matter to the tribunal. 31
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(2) The referral must be made-- 1
(a) within the period provided for under the enabling Act; 2
and 3
(b) in a way complying with the rules. 4
35 Acceptance or rejection of application or referral 5
(1) This section applies if a person makes an application, or refers 6
a matter, to the tribunal. 7
(2) The principal registrar may-- 8
(a) accept the application or referral without imposing any 9
conditions; or 10
(b) accept the application or referral on conditions stated in 11
the rules; or 12
(c) reject the application or referral on a ground mentioned 13
in subsection (3); or 14
(d) refer the application or referral to the tribunal if the 15
principal registrar believes there is a ground for 16
rejecting the application or referral under subsection (3). 17
(3) The principal registrar may reject an application or referral on 18
any of the following grounds-- 19
(a) the application or referral is made by a person who is not 20
authorised to make it; 21
(b) the application or referral is made after the expiry of the 22
period within which it is required to be made under this 23
Act; 24
(c) the application or referral does not otherwise comply 25
with this Act, an enabling Act or the rules. 26
(4) If the principal registrar rejects an application or referral, or 27
accepts an application or referral on conditions-- 28
(a) the principal registrar must notify the applicant that the 29
applicant may request the principal registrar to refer the 30
decision to the tribunal for review; and 31
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(b) if the applicant makes the request, the principal registrar 1
must refer the decision to the tribunal for review. 2
(5) No fee is payable for a request for a referral under subsection 3
(4). 4
(6) If the question of whether or not an application or referral 5
should be rejected is referred to the tribunal under subsection 6
(2)(d) or (4)(b), the tribunal must direct the principal 7
registrar-- 8
(a) to reject the application or referral; or 9
(b) to accept the application or referral on stated conditions 10
or no conditions. 11
(7) If the question of whether or not an application or referral 12
should be accepted on stated conditions is referred to the 13
tribunal under subsection (4)(b), the tribunal must direct the 14
principal registrar-- 15
(a) to accept the application or referral on no conditions; or 16
(b) to accept the application or referral on the stated 17
conditions or different conditions; or 18
(c) to reject the application or referral. 19
(8) The tribunal may direct the principal registrar to reject an 20
application or referral only if a ground for rejecting the 21
application or referral under subsection (3) exists. 22
Note-- 23
A decision of the tribunal under subsection (6) or (7) is not subject to 24
appeal under part 8. See sections 142(2) and 149(4). 25
36 When proceeding starts 26
A proceeding starts when the principal registrar accepts an 27
application or referral, whether or not on conditions. 28
Note-- 29
However, under section 38, the tribunal must not take any action on the 30
application or referral until the prescribed fee, if any, for the application 31
or referral is paid. 32
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37 Notice 1
(1) This section applies if a proceeding is started under section 36 2
for an application or referral. 3
(2) The applicant for the application or referral must, within the 4
period stated in the rules, give a copy of the application or 5
referral to-- 6
(a) each party to the proceeding; and 7
(b) each other person to whom notice of the proceeding 8
must be given under an enabling Act or the rules; and 9
(c) any person the tribunal directs to be given notice of the 10
proceeding. 11
Note-- 12
See the rules for provisions about how the copy must, or may, be given 13
and provisions about responding to an application. 14
(3) Subsection (2) does not require the applicant to give a copy of 15
the application or referral to another person if-- 16
(a) the principal registrar has given or undertaken to give 17
the copy to the person; or 18
(b) under subsection (4), the tribunal makes an order that 19
the copy is not required to be given to the person; or 20
(c) the rules exempt the applicant from the requirement to 21
give the copy to the person. 22
(4) The tribunal may make an order exempting the applicant from 23
giving a copy of the application or referral to a person if the 24
tribunal is satisfied-- 25
(a) the applicant has made all reasonable attempts to give 26
the copy to the person but has been unsuccessful; or 27
(b) the making and deciding of the application or referral 28
without notice to the person will not cause injustice. 29
(5) The tribunal may act under subsection (4) on the application 30
of the applicant or on the tribunal's own initiative. 31
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(6) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (4) is exercisable 1
only by a legally qualified member or an adjudicator. 2
38 Prescribed fees 3
(1) An applicant for an application or referral must pay the 4
prescribed fee, if any, for the application or referral. 5
(2) The tribunal must not take any action on an application or 6
referral until the fee is paid. 7
(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent the tribunal directing the 8
principal registrar to accept or reject an application or referral 9
under section 35. 10
Part 4 Parties to a proceeding 11
39 Parties to original jurisdiction 12
A person is a party to a proceeding in the tribunal's original 13
jurisdiction if the person is-- 14
(a) the applicant; or 15
(b) a person in relation to whom a decision of the tribunal is 16
sought by the applicant; or 17
(c) intervening in the proceeding under section 41; or 18
(d) joined as a party to the proceeding under section 42; or 19
(e) someone else an enabling Act states is a party to the 20
proceeding. 21
40 Parties to review jurisdiction 22
(1) A person is a party to a proceeding in the tribunal's review 23
jurisdiction if the person is-- 24
(a) the applicant; or 25
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(b) the decision-maker for the reviewable decision the 1
subject matter of the proceeding; or 2
(c) intervening in the proceeding under section 41; or 3
(d) joined as a party to the proceeding under section 42; or 4
(e) someone else an enabling Act states is a party to the 5
proceeding. 6
(2) In a proceeding in the tribunal's review jurisdiction, so far as 7
is practicable, the official description of the decision-maker 8
must be used as the party's name instead of the 9
decision-maker's name. 10
41 Intervention 11
(1) The Attorney-General may, for the State, intervene in a 12
proceeding at any time. 13
(2) The tribunal may, at any time, give leave for a person to 14
intervene in a proceeding, subject to the conditions the 15
tribunal considers appropriate. 16
42 Joining parties 17
(1) The tribunal may make an order joining a person as a party to 18
a proceeding if the tribunal considers that-- 19
(a) the person should be bound by or have the benefit of a 20
decision of the tribunal in the proceeding; or 21
(b) the person's interests may be affected by the proceeding; 22
or 23
(c) for another reason, it is desirable that the person be 24
joined as a party to the proceeding. 25
(2) The tribunal may make an order under subsection (1) on the 26
application of a person or on its own initiative. 27
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43 Representation 1
(1) The main purpose of this section is to have parties represent 2
themselves unless the interests of justice require otherwise. 3
(2) In a proceeding, a party-- 4
(a) may appear without representation; or 5
(b) may be represented by someone else if-- 6
(i) the party is a child or a person with impaired 7
capacity; or 8
(ii) the proceeding relates to taking disciplinary action, 9
or reviewing a decision about taking disciplinary 10
action, against a person; or 11
(iii) an enabling Act that is an Act, or the rules, states 12
the person may be represented; or 13
(iv) the party has been given leave by the tribunal to be 14
represented. 15
(3) In deciding whether to give a party leave to be represented in a 16
proceeding, the tribunal may consider the following as 17
circumstances supporting the giving of the leave-- 18
(a) the party is a State agency; 19
(b) the proceeding is likely to involve complex questions of 20
fact or law; 21
(c) another party to the proceeding is represented in the 22
proceeding; 23
(d) all of the parties have agreed to the party being 24
represented in the proceeding. 25
(4) A party can not be represented in a proceeding by a person-- 26
(a) who, under rules made under section 224(3), is 27
disqualified from being a representative of a party to a 28
proceeding; or 29
(b) who is not an Australian legal practitioner or 30
government legal officer, unless the tribunal is satisfied 31
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the person is an appropriate person to represent the 1
party. 2
(5) A person who is not an Australian legal practitioner or 3
government legal officer and who is seeking to represent a 4
party in a proceeding must give the tribunal a certificate of 5
authority from the party for the representation if-- 6
(a) the party is a corporation; or 7
(b) the tribunal has asked for the certificate. 8
(6) The tribunal may appoint a person to represent an 9
unrepresented party. 10
(7) In this section-- 11
Australian legal practitioner see the Legal Profession Act 12
2007. 13
government legal officer see the Legal Profession Act 2007. 14
44 Use of interpreters and other persons 15
(1) Unless the tribunal directs otherwise, a party to a proceeding 16
or a witness may be helped in a proceeding by-- 17
(a) an interpreter; or 18
(b) another person necessary or desirable to make the 19
proceeding intelligible to the party or witness, 20
including, for example, a person with appropriate 21
cultural or social knowledge and experience. 22
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the tribunal may arrange for 23
an interpreter or another person to help a party or witness. 24
(3) In this section-- 25
interpreter includes a person who interprets signs made or 26
other things done by a person who can not speak or can not 27
speak clearly enough to take part in a proceeding. 28
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45 General obligation of parties 1
Each party to a proceeding must act quickly in any dealing 2
relevant to the proceeding. 3
Note-- 4
For possible consequences for a contravention of this section, see 5
sections 48 (Dismissing, striking out or deciding if party causing 6
disadvantage) and 102 (Costs against party in interests of justice). 7
Part 5 Preliminary dealings with 8
proceeding 9
Division 1 Early end to proceeding 10
46 Withdrawal of application or referral 11
(1) If the tribunal gives leave, an applicant may, in the way stated 12
in the rules, withdraw the applicant's application or referral 13
for a matter before the matter is heard and decided by the 14
tribunal. 15
(2) If an applicant withdraws an application or referral, the 16
applicant can not make a further application or referral, or 17
request, require or otherwise seek a further referral, relating to 18
the same facts or circumstances without leave of the tribunal. 19
47 Dismissing, striking out or deciding if unjustified 20
proceeding or part 21
(1) This section applies if the tribunal considers a proceeding or a 22
part of a proceeding is-- 23
(a) frivolous, vexatious or misconceived; or 24
(b) lacking in substance; or 25
(c) otherwise an abuse of process. 26
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(2) The tribunal may-- 1
(a) if the party who brought the proceeding or part before 2
the tribunal is the applicant for the proceeding, order the 3
proceeding or part be dismissed or struck out; or 4
(b) for a part of a proceeding brought before the tribunal by 5
a party other than the applicant for the proceeding-- 6
(i) make its final decision in the proceeding in the 7
applicant's favour; or 8
(ii) order that the party who brought the part before the 9
tribunal be removed from the proceeding; or 10
(c) make a costs order against the party who brought the 11
proceeding or part before the tribunal to compensate 12
another party for any reasonable costs, expenses, loss, 13
inconvenience and embarrassment resulting from the 14
proceeding or part. 15
Note-- 16
See section 108 for the tribunal's power to order that the costs be 17
paid before it continues with the proceeding. 18
(3) The tribunal may act under subsection (2) on the application 19
of a party to the proceeding or on the tribunal's own initiative. 20
(4) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (2) is exercisable 21
only by-- 22
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 23
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 24
proceeding--a legally qualified member or an 25
adjudicator. 26
48 Dismissing, striking out or deciding if party causing 27
disadvantage 28
(1) This section applies if the tribunal considers a party to a 29
proceeding is acting in a way that unnecessarily disadvantages 30
another party to the proceeding, including by-- 31
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(a) not complying with a tribunal order or direction without 1
reasonable excuse; or 2
(b) not complying with this Act, an enabling Act or the 3
rules; or 4
(c) asking for an adjournment as a result of conduct 5
mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b); or 6
(d) causing an adjournment; or 7
(e) attempting to deceive another party or the tribunal; or 8
(f) vexatiously conducting the proceeding; or 9
(g) failing to attend mediation or the hearing of the 10
proceeding without reasonable excuse. 11
(2) The tribunal may-- 12
(a) if the party causing the disadvantage is the applicant for 13
the proceeding, order the proceeding be dismissed or 14
struck out; or 15
(b) if the party causing the disadvantage is not the applicant 16
for the proceeding-- 17
(i) make its final decision in the proceeding in the 18
applicant's favour; or 19
(ii) order that the party causing the disadvantage be 20
removed from the proceeding; or 21
(c) make an order under section 102, against the party 22
causing the disadvantage, to compensate another party 23
for any reasonable costs incurred unnecessarily. 24
Note-- 25
See section 108 for the tribunal's power to order that the costs be 26
paid before it continues with the proceeding. 27
(3) In acting under subsection (2), the tribunal must have regard 28
to the following-- 29
(a) the extent to which the party causing the disadvantage is 30
familiar with the tribunal's practices and procedures; 31
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(b) the capacity of the party causing the disadvantage to 1
understand, and act on, the tribunal's orders and 2
directions; 3
(c) whether the party causing the disadvantage is acting 4
deliberately. 5
(4) The tribunal may act under subsection (2) on the application 6
of a party to the proceeding or on the tribunal's own initiative. 7
(5) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (2) is exercisable 8
only by-- 9
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 10
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 11
proceeding--a legally qualified member or an 12
adjudicator. 13
49 Restriction on new application or referral 14
(1) This section applies if the tribunal has ordered-- 15
(a) a proceeding or a part of a proceeding be dismissed or 16
struck out under section 47; or 17
(b) a proceeding be dismissed or struck out under section 18
48. 19
(2) Another proceeding or a part of a proceeding of the same kind 20
relating to the same matter can not be started before the 21
tribunal without the leave of the president or deputy president. 22
(3) The president or deputy president may give the leave if the 23
president or deputy president considers the interests of justice 24
requires it to be given. 25
(4) In giving leave to start another proceeding or part of a 26
proceeding, the president or deputy president may extend any 27
time limit for starting the proceeding or part. 28
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Division 2 Decision by default 1
50 Decision by default for debt 2
(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) a person has applied to the tribunal to recover a debt or 4
liquidated demand of money from a person (the 5
respondent); and 6
(b) an enabling Act that is an Act or the rules state that the 7
respondent must respond to the application within a 8
stated period; and 9
(c) the respondent has not responded to the application 10
within the stated period. 11
(2) The applicant may, in the way stated in the rules, apply to the 12
tribunal for an order in favour of the applicant (a decision by 13
default) for an amount limited to-- 14
(a) the amount claimed in the application starting the 15
proceeding; and 16
(b) the fee paid for the application; and 17
(c) legal costs based on a scale stated in the rules; and 18
(d) interest on the amount claimed at the rate the tribunal 19
considers appropriate. 20
(3) If the applicant applies for a decision by default under this 21
section the principal registrar may make the decision. 22
(4) A decision by default given under subsection (3) is taken to be 23
a final decision of the tribunal in the proceeding. 24
(5) The applicant must prove the respondent has been given a 25
copy of the application before a decision by default may be 26
made under this section. 27
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51 Setting aside decision by default 1
The tribunal, on application by the respondent, may set aside 2
or amend a decision by default under section 50 on terms, 3
including terms about costs and the giving of security, the 4
tribunal considers appropriate. 5
Division 3 Transfer 6
52 Transfer to more appropriate forum 7
(1) If the tribunal considers the subject matter of a proceeding or 8
a part of a proceeding would be more appropriately dealt with 9
by another tribunal, a court or another entity, the tribunal may, 10
by order, transfer the matter to which the proceeding or part 11
relates to the other tribunal, the court or the other entity. 12
(2) If the tribunal considers it does not have jurisdiction to hear all 13
matters in a proceeding, the tribunal may, by order, transfer 14
the matter or matters for which it does not have jurisdiction 15
to-- 16
(a) a court of competent jurisdiction; or 17
(b) another tribunal or entity having jurisdiction to deal with 18
the matter or matters. 19
(3) The tribunal may make an order under subsection (2)(a) even 20
though the proceeding has previously been transferred from a 21
court to the tribunal under section 53. 22
(4) If the tribunal transfers a matter to another tribunal, a court or 23
another entity (the relevant entity) under this section-- 24
(a) a proceeding for the matter is taken to have been started 25
before the relevant entity when it was started before the 26
tribunal; and 27
(b) the tribunal may make the orders or give the directions it 28
considers appropriate to facilitate the transfer, including 29
an order that a party is taken to have complied with the 30
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requirements under an Act or other law for starting a 1
proceeding before the relevant entity. 2
(5) An order under subsection (4)(b) has effect despite any other 3
Act or law. 4
(6) The tribunal may act under this section on the application of a 5
party to the proceeding or on its own initiative. 6
(7) The tribunal's power to act under this section is exercisable 7
only by a judicial member. 8
(8) In this section-- 9
proceeding includes a process for the consideration of a 10
matter. 11
53 Transfer from a court 12
(1) If a proceeding is started in a court and the subject matter of 13
the proceeding could be heard by the tribunal under this Act, 14
the court may, by order, transfer the proceeding to the tribunal. 15
(2) If a court transfers a proceeding to the tribunal under 16
subsection (1)-- 17
(a) the proceeding is taken to have been started before the 18
tribunal when it was started in the court; and 19
(b) the court may make the orders and give the directions it 20
considers appropriate to facilitate the transfer, including 21
an order that a party is taken to have complied with the 22
requirements under this Act, an enabling Act or the rules 23
for starting a proceeding before the tribunal. 24
(3) An order under subsection (2)(b) has effect despite any 25
provision of this Act, an enabling Act or the rules. 26
(4) A court may act under this section on the application of a 27
party to the proceeding or on its own initiative. 28
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Division 4 Consolidation or sequence 1
directions 2
54 Consolidation 3
(1) The tribunal may direct that 2 or more proceedings 4
concerning the same or related facts and circumstances be 5
consolidated into 1 proceeding. 6
(2) The tribunal's power to give a direction under subsection (1) 7
is exercisable only by a legally qualified member or an 8
adjudicator. 9
(3) If 2 or more proceedings (each a pre-consolidation 10
proceeding) are consolidated under subsection (1), evidence 11
given in a pre-consolidation proceeding may also be given in 12
the consolidated proceeding in relation to each of the other 13
pre-consolidation proceedings. 14
55 Sequence 15
(1) The tribunal may direct that 2 or more proceedings 16
concerning the same or related facts and circumstances-- 17
(a) remain as separate proceedings but be heard and decided 18
together; or 19
(b) be heard in a particular sequence. 20
(2) The tribunal's power to give a direction under subsection (1) 21
is exercisable only by a legally qualified member or an 22
adjudicator. 23
56 Variation of direction 24
(1) Before or during the hearing of a consolidated proceeding or 25
of proceedings directed to be heard together or in a particular 26
sequence, the tribunal may direct that the proceedings be 27
separated or heard in another sequence. 28
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(2) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (1) is exercisable 1
only by-- 2
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding or 3
proceedings; or 4
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 5
proceeding or proceedings--a legally qualified member 6
or an adjudicator. 7
Part 6 Other provisions about a 8
proceeding 9
Division 1 Procedural powers 10
57 General powers 11
(1) The tribunal may-- 12
(a) take evidence on oath; or 13
(b) act in the absence of a party who has had reasonable 14
notice of a proceeding; or 15
(c) adjourn a proceeding. 16
(2) The tribunal-- 17
(a) may require a person appearing before the tribunal to 18
give evidence on oath; and 19
(b) may administer an oath to the person. 20
(3) The tribunal may permit a person appearing as a witness 21
before the tribunal to give evidence by tendering a written 22
statement, verified, if the tribunal directs, by oath. 23
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58 Interim orders 1
(1) Before making a final decision in a proceeding, the tribunal 2
may make an interim order it considers appropriate in the 3
interests of justice, including, for example-- 4
(a) to protect a party's position for the duration of the 5
proceeding; or 6
(b) to require or permit something to be done to secure the 7
effectiveness of the exercise of the tribunal's jurisdiction 8
for the proceeding. 9
Note-- 10
See also section 22(3) for the tribunal's power to stay the operation of a 11
reviewable decision while it is being reviewed by the tribunal. 12
(2) The tribunal may make an interim order on the application of 13
a party to the proceeding or on its own initiative. 14
(3) In making an interim order, the tribunal-- 15
(a) may require an undertaking, including an undertaking as 16
to costs or damages, it considers appropriate; or 17
(b) may provide for the lifting of the order if stated 18
conditions are met. 19
(4) The tribunal may assess damages for subsection (3)(a). 20
(5) The tribunal's power to assess damages under subsection (4) 21
is exercisable only by a legally qualified member. 22
(6) In this section-- 23
interim order means an order that has effect for the duration 24
of a proceeding or a shorter period. 25
59 Injunctions 26
(1) The tribunal may, by order, grant an injunction, including an 27
interim injunction, in a proceeding if it is just and convenient 28
to do so. 29
(2) The tribunal may make an order granting an interim 30
injunction whether or not it has given any person whose 31
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interests may be affected by the order an opportunity to be 1
heard. 2
(3) The tribunal may act under subsection (1) on the application 3
of a party to the proceeding or on its own initiative. 4
(4) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (1) is exercisable 5
only by a judicial member. 6
(5) The tribunal's power under subsection (1) is in addition to, 7
and does not limit, any power of the tribunal under an 8
enabling Act to make an order in the nature of an injunction. 9
(6) In making an order under subsection (1), the tribunal-- 10
(a) may require an undertaking, including an undertaking as 11
to costs or damages, it considers appropriate; or 12
(b) may provide for the lifting of the order if stated 13
conditions are met. 14
(7) The tribunal may assess damages for subsection (6)(a). 15
(8) The tribunal's power to assess damages under subsection (7) 16
is exercisable only by a legally qualified member. 17
(9) In this section-- 18
interim injunction means an injunction that has effect for the 19
duration of a proceeding or a shorter period. 20
60 Declarations 21
(1) The tribunal may make a declaration about a matter in a 22
proceeding-- 23
(a) instead of making an order it could make about the 24
matter; or 25
(b) in addition to an order it could make about the matter. 26
(2) The tribunal may make an order it considers necessary or 27
desirable to give effect to a declaration under subsection (1). 28
(3) A declaration under subsection (1) is binding on the parties to 29
the proceeding mentioned in the declaration. 30
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(4) The tribunal's power under subsection (1) is in addition to, 1
and does not limit, any power of the tribunal under an 2
enabling Act to make a declaration. 3
(5) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (1) or (2) is 4
exercisable only by a judicial member. 5
61 Relief from procedural requirements 6
(1) The tribunal may, by order-- 7
(a) extend a time limit fixed for the start of a proceeding by 8
this Act or an enabling Act; or 9
(b) extend or shorten a time limit fixed by this Act, an 10
enabling Act or the rules; or 11
(c) waive compliance with another procedural requirement 12
under this Act, an enabling Act or the rules. 13
(2) An extension or waiver may be given under subsection (1) 14
even if the time for complying with the relevant requirement 15
has passed. 16
(3) The tribunal can not extend or shorten a time limit or waive 17
compliance with another procedural requirement if to do so 18
would cause prejudice or detriment, not able to be remedied 19
by an appropriate order for costs or damages, to a party or 20
potential party to a proceeding. 21
(4) The tribunal may act under subsection (1) on the application 22
of a party or potential party to the proceeding or on its own 23
initiative. 24
(5) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (1) is exercisable 25
only by-- 26
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 27
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 28
proceeding--a legally qualified member, an adjudicator 29
or the principal registrar. 30
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62 Directions 1
(1) The tribunal may give a direction at any time in a proceeding 2
and do whatever is necessary for the speedy and fair conduct 3
of the proceeding. 4
(2) The tribunal may hold a directions hearing for giving the 5
direction before any other hearing is held for the proceeding. 6
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the tribunal may give a 7
direction under this section requiring a party to the proceeding 8
to produce a document or another thing, or provide 9
information to-- 10
(a) the tribunal; or 11
(b) another party to the proceeding. 12
(4) A party must comply with a direction given under this section 13
within-- 14
(a) the period stated in the direction; or 15
(b) if the tribunal has extended the period within which the 16
direction must be complied with--the extended period. 17
(5) However, subsection (4) does not apply to a document or 18
thing, a part of a document or thing, or information for which 19
there is a valid claim to privilege from disclosure. 20
(6) The tribunal may act under this section on the application of a 21
party to a proceeding or on the tribunal's own initiative. 22
(7) The tribunal's power to act under this section is exercisable 23
only by-- 24
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 25
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 26
proceeding--a legally qualified member, an adjudicator 27
or the principal registrar. 28
63 Obtaining a document or thing from third parties 29
(1) The tribunal may make an order requiring a person who is not 30
a party to a proceeding but who has, or is likely to have, in the 31
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person's possession or control a document or other thing 1
relevant to the proceeding to produce the document or thing 2
to-- 3
(a) the tribunal; or 4
(b) a party to the proceeding. 5
(2) The person in relation to whom the order is made must 6
comply with the order within the period stated in the order. 7
(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply to a document or 8
thing, or a part of a document or thing, for which there is a 9
valid claim to privilege from disclosure. 10
(4) In making an order on the application of a party, the tribunal 11
must consider whether it is appropriate to make an order 12
requiring the party to pay the costs of producing the document 13
or thing to which the order relates. 14
(5) The tribunal may act under this section on the application of a 15
party or on the tribunal's own initiative. 16
(6) The tribunal's power to act under this section is exercisable 17
only by-- 18
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 19
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 20
proceeding--a legally qualified member, an adjudicator 21
or the principal registrar. 22
64 Amending particular documents 23
(1) The tribunal may, at any time in a proceeding, make an order 24
requiring that a relevant document be amended. 25
(2) The tribunal may make the order on the application of the 26
party who filed the document or on its own initiative. 27
(3) The tribunal's power to make an order under subsection (1) is 28
exercisable only by-- 29
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 30
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(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 1
proceeding--a legally qualified member, an adjudicator 2
or the principal registrar. 3
(4) In this section-- 4
relevant document means-- 5
(a) an application or referral; or 6
(b) a document responding to an application or referral. 7
65 Dealing with documents and other things 8
(1) This section applies if a document or other thing is produced 9
to the tribunal in a proceeding. 10
(2) The tribunal may inspect the document or thing. 11
(3) The tribunal may-- 12
(a) keep the document or thing for a reasonable period; and 13
(b) make copies of or take extracts from the document, or 14
take photographs of the thing. 15
(4) If the tribunal keeps a document or other thing, the tribunal 16
must permit a person otherwise entitled to possession of the 17
document or thing-- 18
(a) for a document--to inspect, make a copy of or take an 19
extract from the document at a reasonable time and 20
place the tribunal decides; or 21
(b) for another thing--to inspect or photograph the thing at 22
a reasonable time and place the tribunal decides. 23
(5) If the tribunal has made a copy of a document under 24
subsection (3)(b) and the principal registrar certifies the copy 25
as a true copy of the original document, the certified copy is 26
admissible in evidence before any court, tribunal or person 27
acting judicially as if it were the original document. 28
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66 Non-publication orders 1
(1) The tribunal may make an order prohibiting the publication of 2
the following other than in the way and to the persons stated 3
in the order-- 4
(a) the contents of a document or other thing produced to 5
the tribunal; 6
(b) evidence given before the tribunal; 7
(c) information that may enable a person who has appeared 8
before the tribunal, or is affected by a proceeding, to be 9
identified. 10
(2) The tribunal may make an order under subsection (1) only if 11
the tribunal considers the order is necessary-- 12
(a) to avoid interfering with the proper administration of 13
justice; or 14
(b) to avoid endangering the physical or mental health or 15
safety of a person; or 16
(c) to avoid offending public decency or morality; or 17
(d) to avoid the publication of confidential information or 18
information whose publication would be contrary to the 19
public interest; or 20
(e) for any other reason in the interests of justice. 21
(3) The tribunal may act under subsection (1) on the application 22
of a party to the proceeding or on its own initiative. 23
(4) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (1) is exercisable 24
only by-- 25
(a) the tribunal as constituted for the proceeding; or 26
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the 27
proceeding--a legally qualified member or an 28
adjudicator. 29
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Division 2 Compulsory conferences 1
67 Direction by tribunal or principal registrar 2
(1) The tribunal or the principal registrar may direct the parties to 3
a proceeding to attend 1 or more compulsory conferences. 4
(2) The principal registrar must give each party to the proceeding 5
written notice of the compulsory conference, as stated in the 6
rules. 7
68 Personal or representative attendance 8
(1) The relevant entity may direct a party to a proceeding to 9
attend a compulsory conference in person or to be represented 10
by a person who has authority to settle the dispute the subject 11
of the proceeding for the party. 12
(2) In this section-- 13
relevant entity means-- 14
(a) before the compulsory conference starts-- 15
(i) the entity that directed the parties to attend the 16
conference; or 17
(ii) the person who is to preside over the conference; 18
or 19
(b) from the start of the compulsory conference--the 20
person presiding over the conference. 21
69 Purposes 22
The purposes of a compulsory conference for a proceeding are 23
as follows-- 24
(a) to identify and clarify the issues in dispute in the 25
proceeding; 26
(b) to promote a settlement of the dispute the subject of the 27
proceeding; 28
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(c) to identify the questions of fact and law to be decided by 1
the tribunal; 2
(d) if the proceeding is not settled, to make orders and give 3
directions about the conduct of the proceeding; 4
(e) to make orders and give directions the person presiding 5
over the conference considers appropriate to resolve the 6
dispute the subject of the proceeding. 7
70 Procedure generally 8
(1) A compulsory conference must be heard by 1 of the following 9
persons chosen by the president-- 10
(a) a member; 11
(b) an adjudicator; 12
(c) the principal registrar. 13
Note-- 14
See section 169 (for members and adjudicators) or 212 (for the principal 15
registrar) for the requirement to disclose interests that may conflict with 16
the performance of functions in a compulsory conference. 17
(2) A compulsory conference must be held in private unless the 18
person presiding over the conference directs otherwise. 19
(3) A compulsory conference may be conducted in the way 20
decided by the person presiding over the conference, which 21
must be a way complying with this Act, an enabling Act and 22
the rules. 23
(4) Sections 28, 29 and 32(1) apply to a compulsory conference 24
as if-- 25
(a) the compulsory conference were a proceeding before the 26
tribunal; and 27
(b) subject to paragraph (c), a reference in the sections to 28
the tribunal included a reference to the person presiding 29
over the compulsory conference; and 30
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(c) a reference to the practices and procedures of the 1
tribunal in section 29(1)(a)(i) included a reference to the 2
practices and procedures for the compulsory conference. 3
71 Orders and directions generally 4
(1) This section applies if the person presiding over a compulsory 5
conference is a person who may exercise a power of the 6
tribunal to make an order or give a direction under section 61, 7
62, 63 or 64. 8
(2) The person may exercise a power mentioned in section 61, 62, 9
63 or 64 to make an order or give a direction in the 10
conference. 11
(3) An order or direction made under subsection (2) is taken to be 12
an order or direction made in the proceeding to which the 13
conference relates. 14
72 Party fails to attend 15
(1) If a party to a proceeding does not attend a compulsory 16
conference-- 17
(a) the conference may proceed in the party's absence; and 18
(b) if the person presiding is a member or an adjudicator, 19
and all the parties present agree, the person may-- 20
(i) make a decision adverse to the absent party and 21
make any appropriate orders, including orders 22
about costs; or 23
(ii) order that the absent party be removed from the 24
proceeding, and pay another party's costs 25
reasonably incurred by the other party as a result of 26
the absent party's involvement in the proceeding. 27
(2) Subsection (1) applies only if the person presiding over the 28
compulsory conference is satisfied the absent party has been 29
given notice of the conference under section 67(2). 30
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(3) If a decision or order is made under subsection (1)(b), this Act 1
applies to the decision or order as if-- 2
(a) the compulsory conference were a proceeding before the 3
tribunal; and 4
(b) the decision or order were a decision or order made by 5
the tribunal constituted for the proceeding. 6
(4) A person the subject of an order under subsection (1)(b)(ii) 7
may apply to the tribunal to be reinstated as a party to the 8
proceeding. 9
(5) The tribunal may reinstate the person as a party to the 10
proceeding if satisfied the person had a reasonable excuse for 11
not attending the compulsory conference. 12
73 Member or adjudicator presiding 13
(1) This section applies if the person presiding at a compulsory 14
conference for a proceeding is a member or an adjudicator. 15
(2) At the end of the compulsory conference, the person presiding 16
must advise the parties to the proceeding of their rights to 17
object to the person constituting the tribunal for the 18
proceeding. 19
(3) A party may object to the person constituting the tribunal for 20
the proceeding. 21
(4) An objection under subsection (2), must be filed in the 22
registry-- 23
(a) within 2 business days after the compulsory conference 24
ends; or 25
(b) if the hearing of the proceeding is to start before the end 26
of the period mentioned in paragraph (a), before the start 27
of the hearing. 28
(5) The person presiding-- 29
(a) may disqualify himself or herself from constituting the 30
tribunal for the proceeding, whether or not an objection 31
is filed; and 32
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(b) must not constitute the tribunal for the proceeding if a 1
party objects to the person constituting the tribunal for 2
the proceeding. 3
74 Inadmissibility of particular evidence 4
(1) Evidence of anything said or done during a compulsory 5
conference for a proceeding is not admissible at any stage in 6
the proceeding. 7
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to-- 8
(a) evidence that all parties to the proceeding have agreed 9
may be admitted into evidence; or 10
(b) evidence of an order made or direction given at a 11
compulsory conference or the reasons for the order or 12
direction; or 13
(c) evidence of anything said or done that is relevant to a 14
proceeding-- 15
(i) for an offence relating to the giving of false or 16
misleading information; or 17
(ii) for contempt; or 18
(iii) relating to an order made under section 72(1)(b). 19
Division 3 Mediation 20
75 Referral by tribunal or principal registrar 21
(1) The tribunal or the principal registrar may refer the subject 22
matter, or a part of the subject matter, of a proceeding for 23
mediation by a mediator appointed by the tribunal or principal 24
registrar. 25
(2) A referral under subsection (1) may be made with or without 26
the consent of the parties to the proceeding. 27
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(3) The principal registrar must give each party to the proceeding 1
written notice of the referral for mediation as stated in the 2
rules. 3
(4) If the tribunal or principal registrar decides to refer the subject 4
matter or part for mediation by a mediator under the Dispute 5
Resolution Centres Act 1990, it is sufficient if the tribunal or 6
principal registrar appoints the director of a specified dispute 7
resolution centre as mediator. 8
76 Personal or representative attendance 9
(1) The relevant entity may direct a party to a proceeding to 10
attend mediation in person or to be represented by a person 11
who has authority to settle the dispute the subject of the 12
proceeding for the party. 13
(2) In this section-- 14
relevant entity means-- 15
(a) before the mediation starts-- 16
(i) the entity that referred the subject matter, or a part 17
of the subject matter, of the proceeding for 18
mediation; or 19
(ii) the mediator who is to conduct the mediation; or 20
(b) from the start of the mediation--the mediator 21
conducting the mediation. 22
77 Purpose 23
The purpose of mediation for a proceeding is to promote the 24
settlement of the dispute the subject of the proceeding. 25
78 Procedure generally 26
(1) Unless the entity that referred a matter, or a part of a matter, 27
for mediation directs otherwise, the mediation must be held in 28
private. 29
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(2) Mediation may be conducted in the way decided by the 1
mediator, which must be a way complying with the rules. 2
79 Who may be a mediator 3
(1) A person may be a mediator for a proceeding only if the 4
person is-- 5
(a) a member; or 6
(b) an adjudicator; or 7
(c) the principal registrar; or 8
(d) a mediator under the Dispute Resolution Centres Act 9
1990; or 10
(e) a person, including, for example, a registrar or registry 11
staff member, approved by the principal registrar as a 12
mediator for the tribunal. 13
(2) The principal registrar may approve a person as a mediator for 14
the tribunal only if the principal registrar is satisfied, having 15
regard to the person's qualifications and experience, the 16
person is a suitable person to conduct mediation. 17
80 Disclosure of interests 18
(1) This section applies if a mediator who is to conduct mediation 19
has or acquires an interest, financial or otherwise, that may 20
conflict with the proper performance of the mediator's 21
functions in the mediation. 22
(2) The mediator must-- 23
(a) disclose the nature of the interest to the president; and 24
(b) not take part in the mediation or exercise powers for it, 25
unless all parties to the proceeding and the president 26
agree otherwise. 27
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81 Member or adjudicator conducting mediation 1
(1) This section applies if the person conducting mediation for a 2
proceeding is a member or adjudicator. 3
(2) The person must not constitute the tribunal for the proceeding 4
unless all the parties to the proceeding agree otherwise. 5
82 Notification of outcome 6
(1) This section applies in relation to mediation conducted by a 7
mediator other than the principal registrar. 8
(2) If the parties to a proceeding agree to settle the proceeding or 9
a part of the proceeding at mediation, the mediator must 10
notify the principal registrar that the parties have agreed to 11
settle the dispute the subject of the proceeding or part. 12
(3) If a mediator has attempted unsuccessfully to settle a 13
proceeding by mediation, the mediator must notify the 14
principal registrar that the mediation was unsuccessful. 15
83 Inadmissibility of particular evidence 16
(1) Evidence of anything said or done during mediation for a 17
proceeding is not admissible at any stage of the proceeding. 18
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to-- 19
(a) evidence that all parties to the proceeding have agreed 20
may be admitted into evidence; or 21
(b) evidence of anything said or done that is relevant to a 22
proceeding-- 23
(i) for an offence relating to the giving of false or 24
misleading information; or 25
(ii) for contempt. 26
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Division 4 Settlement and accepted offers to 1
settle 2
84 Settlement in compulsory conference 3
(1) This section applies if a settlement is reached in a compulsory 4
conference by the parties to a proceeding. 5
(2) The person presiding at the compulsory conference may-- 6
(a) record the terms of the settlement in writing; and 7
(b) make the orders necessary to give effect to the 8
settlement. 9
(3) This Act applies to an order made under subsection (2) as if-- 10
(a) the compulsory conference were a proceeding before the 11
tribunal; and 12
(b) the order were an order made by the tribunal constituted 13
for the proceeding. 14
85 Settlement at mediation 15
(1) This section applies if a settlement is reached by the parties to 16
a proceeding at mediation. 17
(2) If the mediator is a member, an adjudicator or the principal 18
registrar, the mediator may record the terms of the settlement 19
in writing and make the orders necessary to give effect to the 20
settlement. 21
(3) This Act applies to an order made under subsection (2) as if-- 22
(a) the mediation were a proceeding before the tribunal; and 23
(b) the order were an order made by the tribunal constituted 24
for the proceeding. 25
(4) If the mediator is not a member, an adjudicator or the 26
principal registrar, the mediator may-- 27
(a) record the terms of the settlement in writing and have 28
the parties sign the written terms; and 29
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(b) file the signed written terms in the registry. 1
(5) If signed written terms of the settlement are filed in the 2
registry under subsection (4), the tribunal may make the 3
orders necessary to give effect to the settlement. 4
86 Settlement other than in compulsory conference or at 5
mediation 6
(1) This section applies if a settlement is reached by the parties to 7
a proceeding other than in a compulsory conference or at 8
mediation. 9
(2) The parties may-- 10
(a) record the terms of the settlement in writing and sign the 11
written terms; and 12
(b) file the signed written terms in the registry. 13
(3) If no party to the proceeding notifies the tribunal of the party's 14
intention to withdraw from the settlement within 7 days after 15
the written terms are filed in the registry, the tribunal may 16
make the orders necessary to give effect to the settlement. 17
(4) The tribunal's power to make an order under subsection (3) is 18
exercisable only by a legally qualified member or an 19
adjudicator. 20
87 Limitation on making order giving effect to settlement 21
An order under this division giving effect to a settlement for a 22
proceeding may be made only if the entity making the order is 23
satisfied the tribunal could make a decision in the terms of the 24
settlement or in terms consistent with the settlement. 25
88 Effect of order giving effect to settlement 26
(1) An order under this division giving effect to a settlement for a 27
proceeding has the same effect as if it were an order made by 28
the tribunal after deciding the proceeding. 29
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(2) The parties to the proceeding may apply to the tribunal for an 1
amendment of the order if the order does not reflect the 2
intention of the parties in the settlement. 3
(3) An application under subsection (2) must be made jointly by 4
all the parties to the proceeding. 5
(4) The tribunal may, on the application of the parties under this 6
section, amend the terms of the order if the tribunal is 7
satisfied-- 8
(a) the amendment reflects the intention of the parties; and 9
(b) the tribunal could make a decision in the terms of the 10
settlement after the amendment, or consistent with the 11
terms of the settlement after the amendment. 12
89 Consequences if accepted offer to settle is not complied 13
with 14
(1) This section applies if an offer to settle the dispute the subject 15
of a proceeding is accepted, but the party who made the offer 16
does not comply with its terms. 17
(2) The tribunal, on the application of the party who accepted the 18
offer (the relevant party), may-- 19
(a) make an order giving effect to the terms of the offer; or 20
(b) if the party making the offer was the applicant-- 21
(i) dismiss the proceeding; or 22
(ii) if the relevant party responded to the application 23
for the proceeding before the offer was made, 24
make an order awarding the relevant party any or 25
all of the things asked for in the response; or 26
(c) if the relevant party is the applicant, make an order 27
awarding the relevant party any or all of the things asked 28
for in the proceeding. 29
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Division 5 Hearings 1
90 Public hearing 2
(1) Unless an enabling Act that is an Act provides otherwise, a 3
hearing of a proceeding must be held in public. 4
(2) However, the tribunal may direct a hearing or a part of a 5
hearing be held in private if the tribunal considers it is 6
necessary-- 7
(a) to avoid interfering with the proper administration of 8
justice; or 9
(b) to avoid endangering the physical or mental health or 10
safety of a person; or 11
(c) to avoid offending public decency or morality; or 12
(d) to avoid the publication of confidential information or 13
information whose publication would be contrary to the 14
public interest; or 15
(e) for another reason in the interests of justice. 16
(3) The tribunal may make directions about the persons who may 17
attend a hearing or a part of a hearing to be held in private. 18
(4) The tribunal may make a direction under this section on the 19
application of a party to the proceeding or on its own 20
initiative. 21
91 Support person may be allowed in private hearing 22
(1) This section applies if a hearing of a proceeding is to be held 23
in private. 24
(2) The tribunal must-- 25
(a) ask each party to the proceeding whether the party needs 26
the support of someone else for the hearing; and 27
(b) ask each witness whether the witness needs the support 28
of someone else for giving evidence at the hearing. 29
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(3) If a party or witness tells the tribunal that the party or witness 1
needs the support of someone else (the support person), the 2
tribunal must allow the support person to attend the hearing 3
with the party or witness. 4
(4) If the support person is to be a witness at the hearing, the 5
tribunal may direct the times the support person may attend 6
the hearing under subsection (3). 7
(5) The support person-- 8
(a) must not be a party to the proceeding; and 9
(b) must not represent the party or witness at the hearing or 10
address the tribunal. 11
92 Notice 12
The principal registrar must give notice, as stated in the rules, 13
of the time and place for the hearing of a proceeding to-- 14
(a) each party to the proceeding; and 15
(b) each other person to whom notice of the hearing must be 16
given under an enabling Act or the rules; and 17
(c) any other person the tribunal directs to be given notice 18
of the hearing. 19
93 Deciding in absence of person 20
(1) This section applies if-- 21
(a) a person has not attended a hearing and the tribunal is 22
satisfied the person has been given notice of the hearing 23
under section 92; or 24
(b) the tribunal is satisfied a person can not be found after 25
reasonable inquiries have been made. 26
(2) The tribunal may hear and decide the matter in the person's 27
absence. 28
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(3) This section applies even if the absent person is a party to the 1
proceeding. 2
94 Expedited hearing 3
(1) The tribunal may conduct an expedited hearing for-- 4
(a) a minor civil dispute; or 5
(b) a matter an enabling Act that is an Act states is a matter 6
for which an expedited hearing may be conducted. 7
(2) The expedited hearing must be conducted in the way stated in 8
the rules. 9
95 Evidence 10
(1) The tribunal must allow a party to a proceeding a reasonable 11
opportunity to-- 12
(a) call or give evidence; and 13
(b) examine, cross-examine and re-examine witnesses; and 14
(c) make submissions to the tribunal. 15
(2) Despite subsection (1)-- 16
(a) the tribunal may refuse to allow a party to a proceeding 17
to call evidence on a matter if the tribunal considers 18
there is already sufficient evidence about the matter 19
before the tribunal; and 20
(b) the tribunal may refuse to allow a party to a proceeding 21
to cross-examine a witness about a matter if the tribunal 22
considers-- 23
(i) there is sufficient evidence about the matter before 24
the tribunal; and 25
(ii) the evidence has been sufficiently tested by 26
cross-examination; and 27
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(c) for an expedited hearing under section 94, 1
cross-examination or re-examination of witnesses is at 2
the discretion of the tribunal, subject to the rules. 3
(3) Also, the tribunal may place time limits on the giving of 4
evidence and on the examination, cross-examination and 5
re-examination of witnesses. 6
(4) Evidence in a hearing-- 7
(a) may be given orally or in writing; and 8
(b) if the tribunal requires, must be given on oath or by 9
affidavit. 10
(5) A member or adjudicator may administer or cause to be 11
administered an oath for the purpose of taking evidence at a 12
hearing. 13
(6) A child can not be compelled to take an oath. 14
96 Authorising taking of evidence 15
(1) The tribunal may authorise, in writing, a person (whether or 16
not a member or adjudicator) to take evidence on behalf of the 17
tribunal for a proceeding. 18
(2) The tribunal's power to give an authorisation under subsection 19
(1) is exercisable only by a legally qualified member or an 20
adjudicator. 21
(3) A person may be authorised to take evidence under this 22
section outside Queensland. 23
(4) The tribunal may give directions about the taking of evidence 24
under this section. 25
(5) If a person other than a member or adjudicator is authorised to 26
take evidence under this section, the person has all the powers 27
of a member for taking the evidence. 28
(6) Evidence taken under this section-- 29
(a) is taken to be evidence given to the tribunal; and 30
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(b) for evidence taken outside Queensland, is taken to have 1
been given in Queensland. 2
97 Requiring witness to attend or produce document or 3
thing 4
(1) The tribunal may, by written notice, require a person to-- 5
(a) attend at a stated hearing of a proceeding to give 6
evidence; or 7
(b) produce a stated document or other thing to the tribunal. 8
Note-- 9
See section 214 for consequences of failing to comply with a notice 10
under this subsection. 11
(2) The tribunal may give a notice under subsection (1) on the 12
application of a party to a proceeding or on its own initiative. 13
(3) A person who attends a hearing, or produces a document, in 14
compliance with a written notice given under subsection (1) is 15
entitled to be paid the fees and allowances prescribed under a 16
regulation or, if no fees and allowances are prescribed, the 17
fees and allowances decided by the tribunal. 18
(4) Fees and allowances payable to a person under subsection (3) 19
must be paid-- 20
(a) if the person was given the notice on the application of a 21
party to the proceeding--by the party; or 22
(b) otherwise--by all of the parties in the proportions 23
decided by the tribunal. 24
98 Powers relating to witnesses 25
(1) In a hearing of a proceeding, the tribunal may-- 26
(a) on its own initiative call any person to give evidence; or 27
(b) examine a witness on oath or require a witness to give 28
evidence by affidavit; or 29
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(c) examine or cross-examine a witness to the extent the 1
tribunal considers appropriate to obtain information 2
relevant to performing its functions in the proceeding; or 3
(d) compel a witness to answer questions the tribunal 4
considers relevant to the proceeding. 5
(2) Subsection (1) does not allow the tribunal to compel a witness 6
to answer a question if the witness has a reasonable excuse for 7
refusing to answer the question. 8
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), it is a reasonable excuse for a 9
witness to refuse to answer a question if answering the 10
question might tend to incriminate the person. 11
99 Dealing with special witnesses 12
(1) This section applies in relation to a special witness giving 13
evidence at a hearing of a proceeding. 14
(2) The tribunal may make any of the following orders-- 15
(a) that only particular persons may be present when the 16
special witness gives evidence; 17
(b) that only particular persons may ask questions of the 18
special witness; 19
(c) that the questioning of the special witness must be 20
restricted to a stated time limit; 21
(d) that a particular person must be obscured from the view 22
of the special witness while the special witness is giving 23
evidence; 24
(e) that a particular person must be excluded from the place 25
where the hearing is held while the special witness is 26
giving evidence; 27
(f) that the special witness must give evidence in a place 28
other than where the hearing is held and in the presence 29
of only stated persons or with stated persons being 30
excluded from the room; 31
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(g) that a person, including, for example, a support person 1
under section 91, must be present while the special 2
witness is giving evidence to give emotional support to 3
the special witness; 4
(h) that an audiovisual record of the evidence given by the 5
special witness be made and that the record be viewed 6
and heard at the hearing instead of the special witness 7
giving direct testimony at the hearing. 8
(3) The tribunal may make an order under subsection (2) on the 9
application of a party to the proceeding or on its own 10
initiative. 11
(4) In this section-- 12
relevant matter, for a person, means-- 13
(a) the person's age, education, level of understanding or 14
cultural background; or 15
(b) the person's relationship to a party to the proceeding; or 16
(c) the nature of the subject matter of the evidence; or 17
(d) another matter the tribunal considers relevant. 18
special witness means a witness who is-- 19
(a) a child; or 20
(b) another person who the tribunal considers would be 21
likely, if the person were required to give evidence 22
according to the tribunal's usual practices and 23
procedures, to-- 24
(i) be disadvantaged as a witness because of the 25
person's mental, intellectual or physical 26
impairment or a relevant matter; or 27
(ii) suffer severe emotional trauma; or 28
(iii) be so intimidated as to be disadvantaged as a 29
witness. 30
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Division 6 Costs 1
100 Each party usually bears own costs 2
Other than as provided under this Act or an enabling Act, each 3
party to a proceeding must bear the party's own costs for the 4
proceeding. 5
101 Limitation for children 6
(1) The tribunal must not award costs against a child. 7
(2) Subsection (1) does not prevent the tribunal from making an 8
order under section 103 against a representative of a child. 9
102 Costs against party in interests of justice 10
(1) The tribunal may make an order requiring a party to a 11
proceeding to pay all or a stated part of the costs of another 12
party to the proceeding if the tribunal considers the interests 13
of justice require it to make the order. 14
(2) However, the only costs the tribunal may award under 15
subsection (1) against a party to a proceeding for a minor civil 16
dispute are the costs stated in the rules as costs that may be 17
awarded for minor civil disputes under this section. 18
(3) In deciding whether to award costs under subsection (1) or (2) 19
the tribunal may have regard to the following-- 20
(a) whether a party to a proceeding is acting in a way that 21
unnecessarily disadvantages another party to the 22
proceeding, including as mentioned in section 48(1)(a) 23
to (g); 24
(b) the nature and complexity of the dispute the subject of 25
the proceeding; 26
(c) the relative strengths of the claims made by each of the 27
parties to the proceeding; 28
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(d) for a proceeding for the review of a reviewable 1
decision-- 2
(i) whether the applicant was afforded natural justice 3
by the decision-maker for the decision; and 4
(ii) whether the applicant genuinely attempted to 5
enable and help the decision-maker to make the 6
decision on the merits; 7
(e) the financial circumstances of the parties to the 8
proceeding; 9
(f) anything else the tribunal considers relevant. 10
103 Costs against representative in interests of justice 11
(1) If the tribunal considers a representative of a party to a 12
proceeding, rather than the party, is responsible for 13
unnecessarily disadvantaging another party to the proceeding 14
as mentioned in section 102(3)(a), the tribunal may make a 15
costs order requiring the representative to pay a stated amount 16
to the other party as compensation for the unnecessary costs. 17
(2) Before making a costs order under subsection (2), the tribunal 18
must give the representative a reasonable opportunity to be 19
heard in relation to making the order. 20
104 Costs against intervening parties 21
(1) If the Attorney-General intervenes in a proceeding for the 22
State, the tribunal may make a costs order requiring the State 23
to pay a stated amount to a party to the proceeding as 24
compensation for all or a part of the costs reasonably incurred 25
by the party as a result of the intervention. 26
(2) If the tribunal gives leave to a person to intervene in a 27
proceeding, the tribunal may make a costs order requiring the 28
person to pay a stated amount to a party to the proceeding as 29
compensation for all or a part of the costs reasonably incurred 30
by the party as a result of the intervention. 31
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105 Other power to award costs 1
The rules may authorise the tribunal to award costs in other 2
circumstances, including, for example, the payment of costs in 3
a proceeding if an offer to settle the dispute the subject of the 4
proceeding has been made but not accepted. 5
106 Costs awarded at any stage 6
If the tribunal may award costs under this Act or an enabling 7
Act, the costs may be awarded at any stage of a proceeding or 8
after the proceeding has ended. 9
107 Fixing or assessing costs 10
(1) If the tribunal makes a costs order under this Act or an 11
enabling Act, the tribunal must fix the costs if possible. 12
(2) If it is not possible to fix the costs having regard to the nature 13
of the proceeding, the tribunal may make an order requiring 14
that the costs be assessed under the rules. 15
(3) The rules may provide that costs must be assessed by 16
reference to a scale under the rules applying to a court. 17
108 Staying proceeding 18
(1) Subsection (2) applies if the tribunal makes a costs order 19
under this Act or an enabling Act before a proceeding ends. 20
(2) The tribunal may make an order requiring that the costs be 21
paid before it continues with the proceeding. 22
(3) Subsection (4) applies if a party has been ordered to pay the 23
costs of another party under this Act or an enabling Act, and 24
the party, before paying the costs, starts another proceeding 25
before the tribunal against the other party. 26
(4) The tribunal may make an order staying the other proceeding 27
until the costs are paid. 28
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109 Security 1
(1) This section applies if, under this Act or an enabling Act, the 2
tribunal may award a party's costs for a proceeding. 3
(2) On the application of a party (applicant party) to the 4
proceeding against whom a claim is made or an outcome or 5
decision sought in a proceeding, the tribunal may make an 6
order-- 7
(a) requiring another party to the proceeding to give 8
security for the applicant party's costs within the period 9
stated in the order; and 10
(b) staying the proceeding, or the part of the proceeding 11
against the applicant party, until the security is given. 12
(3) If the security is not given within the period stated in the 13
order, the tribunal may make an order dismissing the 14
proceeding, or the part of the proceeding against the applicant 15
party. 16
(4) In deciding whether to make an order under subsection (1), 17
the tribunal may have regard to any of the following matters-- 18
(a) the financial circumstances of the parties to the 19
proceeding; 20
(b) the prospects of success or merits of the proceeding or 21
the part of the proceeding against the applicant party; 22
(c) the genuineness of the proceeding or the part of the 23
proceeding against the applicant party; 24
(d) anything else the tribunal considers relevant. 25
Division 7 Assessors 26
110 Appointment 27
(1) The president may appoint a person with relevant knowledge, 28
expertise and experience to help the tribunal in relation to a 29
proceeding. 30
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(2) Assessors are appointed under this Act and not under the 1
Public Service Act 2008. 2
(3) An appointment of an assessor must be made in writing. 3
(4) An assessor is entitled to be paid the remuneration and 4
allowances decided by the president and stated in the 5
assessor's instrument of appointment. 6
111 Helping the tribunal 7
(1) The tribunal may-- 8
(a) ask an assessor to give expert evidence in a proceeding; 9
or 10
(b) engage an assessor to help the tribunal in a proceeding, 11
including, for example-- 12
(i) to help the tribunal comply with section 29; or 13
(ii) to sit with the tribunal for giving advice about the 14
proceeding; or 15
(c) refer a question of fact arising in a proceeding to an 16
assessor for the assessor to decide the question and give 17
the tribunal a written report stating the decision and the 18
reasons for it; or 19
(d) ask an assessor to give advice to the tribunal. 20
(2) In asking an assessor to give advice under subsection (1)(d), 21
the tribunal may ask the assessor to conduct an inquiry or 22
investigation into a matter and give a written report of the 23
assessor's findings in the inquiry or investigation. 24
(3) If an assessor gives the tribunal a written report of the 25
assessor's decision under subsection (1)(c), or the assessor's 26
findings in an inquiry or investigation under subsection (2), 27
the tribunal-- 28
(a) must give a copy of the report to-- 29
(i) each party to the proceeding; and 30
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(ii) each other person to whom a copy of the report is 1
required to be given under an enabling Act or the 2
rules; and 3
(b) must give each party to the proceeding an opportunity to 4
make written submissions about the report; and 5
(c) after considering any submissions made under 6
paragraph (b), may either-- 7
(i) adopt the assessor's decision or findings, in whole 8
or in part; or 9
(ii) reject the decision or findings. 10
112 Costs for assessor 11
(1) The tribunal may make an order requiring a party to a 12
proceeding, other than a child, to pay or contribute to the 13
tribunal's costs of obtaining an assessor's help. 14
(2) However, subsection (1) applies in relation to a party only if-- 15
(a) before obtaining the help the tribunal advised the party 16
of-- 17
(i) the tribunal's intention of obtaining the help; and 18
(ii) the likely costs of obtaining the help; and 19
(iii) the likely amount of the party's payment or 20
contribution; and 21
(b) the tribunal gave the party an opportunity to be heard on 22
the matter of obtaining the help. 23
113 Disclosure of interests 24
(1) This section applies if an assessor who is to help the tribunal 25
in a particular proceeding has or acquires an interest, financial 26
or otherwise, that may conflict with the proper performance of 27
the assessor's functions. 28
(2) The assessor must-- 29
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(a) disclose the nature of the interest to the president; and 1
(b) not take part in the proceeding or exercise powers for it, 2
unless all parties to the proceeding and the president 3
agree otherwise. 4
Part 7 Decisions and enforcement 5
Division 1 Making decision 6
114 Conditions and ancillary orders and directions 7
The tribunal's power to make a decision in a proceeding (the 8
primary power) includes a power-- 9
(a) to impose conditions on the decision; and 10
Example of a condition-- 11
that something required to be done by the decision be done 12
within a stated period 13
(b) to make an ancillary order or direction the tribunal 14
considers appropriate for achieving the purpose for 15
which the tribunal may exercise the primary power. 16
Examples of ancillary orders or directions-- 17
· an order adjourning the proceeding 18
· an order or direction that a person give an undertaking to the 19
tribunal 20
115 More than 1 member constitutes tribunal 21
(1) If the tribunal for a particular matter is constituted by 2 22
members and the decisions of the members differ, the 23
tribunal's decision is the decision of the presiding member. 24
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(2) If the tribunal for a particular matter is constituted by 3 1
members and the decisions of the members differ, the 2
tribunal's decision is the decision of the majority. 3
(3) This section is subject to section 116. 4
116 Deciding question of law 5
(1) This section applies for deciding a question of law arising in a 6
proceeding. 7
(2) If the presiding member is a legally qualified member or an 8
adjudicator, the tribunal's decision on the question is the 9
decision of the presiding member. 10
(3) If the presiding member is not a legally qualified member or 11
an adjudicator and the tribunal as constituted for the 12
proceeding includes 1 legally qualified member, the tribunal's 13
decision on the question is the decision of the legally qualified 14
member. 15
(4) If the presiding member is not a legally qualified member or 16
an adjudicator and the tribunal as constituted for a proceeding 17
includes 2 legally qualified members, the tribunal's decision 18
on the question is the decision of the legally qualified member 19
nominated by the president to decide questions of law arising 20
in the proceeding. 21
(5) If the presiding member is not a legally qualified member or 22
an adjudicator and the tribunal as constituted for a proceeding 23
does not include a legally qualified member-- 24
(a) the tribunal's decision on the question is the decision of 25
a legally qualified member nominated by the president; 26
and 27
(b) for that purpose only, the tribunal is taken to have been 28
reconstituted to include the legally qualified member. 29
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117 Referring question of law to president 1
(1) The presiding member may refer a question of law before the 2
tribunal to the president. 3
(2) Subsection (1) applies whether or not the question has been 4
decided by the tribunal under section 116. 5
(3) If the president decides a question of law referred to the 6
president under subsection (1), the decision of the president is 7
the tribunal's decision on the question. 8
118 Referring question of law to Court of Appeal 9
(1) The president may refer a question of law in a proceeding 10
before the tribunal to the Court of Appeal. 11
Note-- 12
See also section 155 (Particular documents to be given to Court of 13
Appeal). 14
(2) The president, or the appeal tribunal with the president's 15
consent, may refer a question of law in a proceeding before 16
the appeal tribunal to the Court of Appeal. 17
(3) A referral under subsection (1) or (2) may be made on the 18
application of a party to the proceeding or on the president's 19
or appeal tribunal's own initiative. 20
(4) If a question of law is referred to the Court of Appeal under 21
subsection (1) or (2)-- 22
(a) the Court of Appeal may decide the question and make 23
consequential or ancillary orders and directions; and 24
(b) the tribunal or appeal tribunal must not make a decision 25
about the matter for which the question arose or is 26
relevant until it receives the Court of Appeal's decision 27
on the question; and 28
(c) the tribunal or appeal tribunal must not proceed in a 29
way, or make a decision, that is inconsistent with the 30
Court of Appeal's decision on the question. 31
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(5) If the Court of Appeal decides a question of law referred to it 1
under subsection (1) or (2), the tribunal's or appeal tribunal's 2
decision on the question is the decision of the Court of 3
Appeal. 4
119 Decision to be given within a reasonable time 5
The tribunal must give its decision in a proceeding, including 6
its final decision, within a reasonable time. 7
Division 2 Giving decision etc. 8
120 Giving decision or notice to particular persons 9
(1) This section applies if-- 10
(a) the tribunal gives a written decision or notice to a 11
person; and 12
(b) the tribunal is aware that the person-- 13
(i) is blind or apparently illiterate in English; or 14
(ii) is a child or person with impaired capacity. 15
(2) The tribunal must do everything reasonably practicable to 16
communicate the information in the decision or notice to the 17
person. 18
121 Giving final decision other than in an appeal 19
(1) The tribunal must give its final decision in a proceeding in 20
writing to-- 21
(a) each party to the proceeding; and 22
(b) each other person to whom notice of the decision is 23
required to be given under an enabling Act or the rules; 24
and 25
(c) for a proceeding for a review of a reviewable 26
decision--the chief executive of the entity in which the 27
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reviewable decision was made (if the chief executive is 1
not a party to the proceeding); and 2
(d) any other person the tribunal reasonably considers 3
notice of the decision should be given. 4
(2) Also, the tribunal must give each party to the proceeding a 5
written notice stating-- 6
(a) part 8 provides for appeals against particular decisions 7
of the tribunal; and 8
(b) a brief summary of the application of part 8; and 9
(c) if the final decision given under subsection (1) does not 10
include the tribunal's reasons for the decision--the party 11
may request that the tribunal give written reasons for the 12
final decision under section 122. 13
(3) The tribunal complies with subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d) in 14
relation to a person if the tribunal orders a party to the 15
proceeding to give a copy of the final decision to the person. 16
(4) Without limiting section 122, the tribunal must give reasons 17
for its final decision in a proceeding either orally or in writing. 18
(5) This section does not apply to an appeal before the appeal 19
tribunal. 20
Note-- 21
See section 148 for how the appeal tribunal is to give its final decision in 22
an appeal. 23
(6) In this section-- 24
chief executive includes chief executive officer. 25
122 Request for written reasons 26
(1) This section applies if the tribunal makes a decision in a 27
proceeding, including its final decision, and does not give 28
written reasons for the decision. 29
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(2) A party to the proceeding may, within 14 days after the 1
decision takes effect under section 127, request that the 2
tribunal give written reasons for the decision. 3
(3) The tribunal must comply with a request under subsection (2) 4
within 45 days after the request is made or, if the president 5
extends the period, the extended period. 6
123 Transcript or audio recording is sufficient 7
(1) This section applies if the tribunal is required to give in 8
writing a decision in a proceeding, or the reasons for a 9
decision in a proceeding, to a person. 10
(2) It is enough for the tribunal to give the person a written 11
transcript, or an audio recording, of the part of the proceeding 12
in which the decision is, or the reasons are, given orally. 13
124 Confidentiality 14
In giving its decision or reasons, whether orally or in writing, 15
the tribunal must ensure the decision or reasons do not include 16
something the subject of a non-publication order if including 17
the thing in the decision or reasons would contravene the 18
order. 19
125 Publication 20
(1) The tribunal may publish its final decision in a proceeding, 21
with or without the reasons for the decision, in any way it 22
considers appropriate. 23
(2) However, the tribunal must ensure the publication of its final 24
decision, or the reasons for its final decision, do not include 25
something the subject of a non-publication order if including 26
the thing in the publication would contravene the order. 27
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Division 3 Effect of decision and its validity 1
126 Effect of decision 2
(1) A decision of the tribunal in a proceeding is binding on all 3
parties to the proceeding. 4
(2) The making, by the tribunal, of a final decision in a 5
proceeding for a minor civil dispute does not prevent a court 6
or another tribunal making a decision about an issue 7
considered (whether or not decided) by the tribunal in the 8
proceeding if the issue is relevant to a proceeding for another 9
matter before the court or other tribunal. 10
127 When decision takes effect 11
A decision of the tribunal in a proceeding takes effect-- 12
(a) when it is made; or 13
(b) if the decision states a later date or time when the 14
decision is to take effect--the later date or time. 15
Example-- 16
If a party to the proceeding is not present before the tribunal when the 17
decision is made, a decision may state it takes effect from a future date 18
or when a future event happens. 19
Note-- 20
If, under part 8, a party to a proceeding appeals against a decision in the 21
proceeding, the operation of the decision may be stayed under section 22
145 or 152. 23
128 Procedural defects etc. 24
(1) A failure of the tribunal to comply with a requirement of 25
division 2 for a decision or notice does not affect the validity 26
of the decision or notice. 27
(2) A decision of the tribunal is not invalid only because-- 28
(a) of a vacancy in the office of a member or adjudicator; or 29
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(b) of a defect or irregularity in, or in connection with, the 1
appointment of a member, acting member, adjudicator, 2
acting adjudicator or the principal registrar; or 3
(c) in relation to a person appointed to act as the president 4
or deputy president, the occasion for the person to act as 5
the president or deputy president had not arisen or had 6
ceased. 7
(3) In this section-- 8
principal registrar includes a registrar performing a function 9
of the principal registrar under section 211(1). 10
Division 4 Enforcing final decision 11
129 Definition for div 4 12
In this division-- 13
final decision, of the tribunal in a proceeding, includes-- 14
(a) an interim order under section 58; and 15
(b) an injunction under section 59; and 16
(c) a monetary decision made other than as part of the 17
tribunal's final decision in the proceeding. 18
130 Application of Limitation of Actions Act 1974 19
The Limitation of Actions Act 1974, section 10(4) applies in 20
relation to a final decision of the tribunal in a proceeding as if 21
the decision were a judgment becoming enforceable when the 22
decision takes effect under this Act. 23
131 Monetary decisions 24
(1) This section applies to a final decision of the tribunal in a 25
proceeding if it is a monetary decision. 26
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(2) A person may enforce the final decision by filing in the 1
registry of a court of competent jurisdiction-- 2
(a) a copy of the decision that the principal registrar has 3
certified to be a true copy; and 4
(b) the person's affidavit about the amount not paid under 5
the decision. 6
(3) No charge may be made for filing a copy of a decision or an 7
affidavit under this section. 8
(4) On filing the documents mentioned in subsection (2) in the 9
registry of a court, the final decision is taken to be an order of 10
the court in which it is filed and may be enforced accordingly. 11
132 Non-monetary decisions 12
(1) This section applies to a final decision of the tribunal in a 13
proceeding-- 14
(a) if it is not a monetary decision; or 15
(b) if it is a monetary decision--to the extent the decision 16
does not require payment of an amount to a person. 17
(2) A person may enforce the final decision by filing in the 18
registry of the Supreme Court-- 19
(a) a copy of the decision that the principal registrar has 20
certified to be a true copy; and 21
(b) the person's affidavit about the non-compliance with the 22
decision. 23
(3) No charge may be made for filing a copy of a decision or an 24
affidavit under this section. 25
(4) On filing the documents mentioned in subsection (2) in the 26
registry of the Supreme Court, the final decision is taken to be 27
an order of the court and may be enforced accordingly. 28
(5) The Supreme Court may transfer to a lower court a 29
proceeding for the enforcement of the order that is pending in 30
the Supreme Court if-- 31
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(a) the order is of a kind that may be made by the lower 1
court; or 2
(b) the order is otherwise capable of being enforced in the 3
lower court. 4
(6) If a proceeding is transferred to a lower court under 5
subsection (5)-- 6
(a) the order is taken to be an order of the lower court and 7
may be enforced accordingly; and 8
(a) the proceeding for the enforcement of the order is taken 9
to have been started before the lower court when it was 10
started in the Supreme Court. 11
(7) In this section-- 12
lower court means a District Court or Magistrates Court. 13
Division 5 Renewal of final decision 14
133 Application for renewal 15
(1) This section applies if-- 16
(a) it is not possible for the tribunal's final decision in a 17
proceeding to be complied with; or 18
(b) there are problems with interpreting, implementing or 19
enforcing the tribunal's final decision in a proceeding. 20
(2) A party to the proceeding may apply to the tribunal for a 21
renewal of the final decision. 22
(3) The application must-- 23
(a) be in a form substantially complying with rules; and 24
(b) state the reason for the application; and 25
(c) be made-- 26
(i) within the period stated in the rules; and 27
(ii) by filing it in the registry. 28
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(4) The party must give a copy of the application to-- 1
(a) each other party to the proceeding; and 2
(b) each other person to whom notice of the application or 3
referral for the proceeding was given under section 37 4
and 5
(c) any person the tribunal directs to be given notice of the 6
application. 7
(5) Subsection (4) does not require the party to give a copy of the 8
application to a person if the principal registrar has given or 9
undertaken to give the copy to the person. 10
(6) A party can not make an application under this section in 11
relation to a final decision the subject of an appeal, or an 12
application for leave to appeal, under part 8. 13
(7) Subsection (6) applies whether or not the appeal or 14
application has been decided. 15
134 Renewed final decision 16
(1) This section applies if, under section 133, a person applies for 17
a renewal of the tribunal's final decision in a proceeding. 18
(2) The tribunal may make-- 19
(a) the same final decision it made when the proceeding 20
was originally decided; or 21
(b) any other appropriate final decision that it could have 22
made, under this Act or an enabling Act, when the 23
proceeding was originally decided. 24
(3) For this Act or an enabling Act, the final decision of the 25
tribunal under subsection (2) is the tribunal's final decision in 26
the proceeding. 27
(4) The tribunal's final decision can not be renewed again under 28
this division. 29
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Division 6 Correcting mistakes 1
135 Tribunal may correct mistake 2
(1) The tribunal may correct a decision made by it in a proceeding 3
if the decision contains-- 4
(a) a clerical mistake; or 5
(b) an error arising from an accidental slip or omission; or 6
(c) a material miscalculation of figures or a material 7
mistake in the description of a matter, person or thing 8
mentioned in the decision; or 9
(d) a defect of form. 10
(2) The tribunal may act under subsection (1) on the application 11
of a party to the proceeding or on its own initiative. 12
(3) An application under subsection (2) must be made within the 13
period, and in the way, stated in the rules. 14
(4) A party can not make an application under subsection (2) in 15
relation to a decision the subject of an appeal, or an 16
application for leave to appeal, under part 8. 17
(5) Subsection (4) applies whether or not the appeal or 18
application has been decided. 19
Division 7 Reopening 20
136 Application of div 7 21
This division applies to a proceeding, other than an appeal 22
under part 8, division 1, that has been heard and decided by 23
the tribunal. 24
137 Definitions for div 7 25
In this division-- 26
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hearing, of a proceeding, includes a compulsory conference 1
for a proceeding if the person presiding over the conference 2
decides the proceeding under section 72(1)(b). 3
reopening ground, for a party to a proceeding, means-- 4
(a) the party did not appear at the hearing of the proceeding 5
and had a reasonable excuse for not attending the 6
hearing; or 7
(b) the party would suffer a substantial injustice if the 8
proceeding was not reopened because significant new 9
evidence has arisen and that evidence was not 10
reasonably available when the proceeding was first 11
heard and decided. 12
138 Application to reopen 13
(1) A party to a proceeding may apply to the tribunal for the 14
proceeding to be reopened if the party considers a reopening 15
ground exists for the party. 16
(2) The application must-- 17
(a) state the reopening ground on which it is made; and 18
(b) be made within the period and in the way stated in the 19
rules; and 20
(c) be accompanied by the prescribed fee (if any). 21
(3) The party must give a copy of the application to-- 22
(a) each other party to the proceeding; and 23
(b) each other person to whom notice of the application is 24
required to be given under an enabling Act or the rules; 25
and 26
(c) any person the tribunal directs to be given notice of the 27
application. 28
(4) Subsection (3) does not require the party to give a copy of the 29
application to a person if the principal registrar has given or 30
undertaken to give a copy of the application to the person. 31
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(5) A party can not make an application under this section in 1
relation to a decision the subject of an appeal, or an 2
application for leave to appeal, under part 8. 3
(6) Subsection (5) applies whether or not the appeal or 4
application has been decided. 5
139 Deciding whether to reopen 6
(1) This section applies if a party (the applicant party) to a 7
proceeding makes an application under section 138 for a 8
proceeding to be reopened. 9
(2) Each party to the proceeding must be given an opportunity to 10
make, within the period stated in the rules, written 11
submissions about the application. 12
(3) The tribunal-- 13
(a) must consider any written submissions made under 14
subsection (2) about the application; and 15
(b) may decide whether or not to reopen the proceeding 16
entirely on the basis of documents, without a hearing or 17
meeting of any kind. 18
(4) The tribunal may grant the application only if the tribunal 19
considers-- 20
(a) a reopening ground exists for the applicant party; and 21
(b) the ground could be effectively or conveniently dealt 22
with by reopening the proceeding under this division, 23
whether or not an appeal under part 8 relating to the 24
ground may also be started. 25
(5) The tribunal's decision on the application is final and can not 26
be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, set aside, or called 27
in question in another way, under the Judicial Review Act 28
1991 or otherwise. 29
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140 Effect of decision to reopen 1
(1) If, under section 139, the tribunal decides a proceeding should 2
be reopened, the tribunal must decide the issues in the 3
proceeding that must be heard and decided again. 4
(2) The issues must be heard and decided by way of a fresh 5
hearing on the merits, and subsection (1) does not prevent the 6
tribunal from hearing and deciding other related issues in the 7
proceeding. 8
(3) The hearing and deciding of the issues and any related issues 9
are taken to be a part of the original proceeding. 10
(4) The tribunal may-- 11
(a) confirm or amend the tribunal's previous final decision 12
in the proceeding; or 13
(b) set aside the tribunal's previous final decision in the 14
proceeding and substitute a new decision. 15
(5) For this Act or an enabling Act, the decision of the tribunal as 16
confirmed, amended or substituted under subsection (4) is the 17
tribunal's final decision in the proceeding. 18
(6) The proceeding can not be reopened again under this division. 19
141 No appeal until application finally dealt with 20
(1) This section applies if a party to a proceeding has made an 21
application under section 138 about the tribunal's final 22
decision in the proceeding. 23
(2) An appeal, or an application for leave to appeal, against the 24
final decision can not be made until the application under 25
section 138 is finally dealt with under this division. 26
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Part 8 Appeals etc. 1
Division 1 Appeals to appeal tribunal 2
142 Party may appeal 3
(1) A party to a proceeding may appeal to the appeal tribunal 4
against a decision of the tribunal in the proceeding if a judicial 5
member did not constitute the tribunal in the proceeding. 6
Note-- 7
See section 149 for appeals against decisions of the tribunal if a judicial 8
member constituted the tribunal. 9
(2) However, a party to a proceeding can not appeal to the appeal 10
tribunal against the following decisions of the tribunal-- 11
(a) a decision under section 35; 12
(b) a cost-amount decision. 13
Note-- 14
See section 149 for appeals against cost-amount decisions. 15
(3) Also-- 16
(a) an appeal under subsection (1) against any of the 17
following decisions of the tribunal may be made only if 18
the party has obtained the appeal tribunal's leave to 19
appeal-- 20
(i) a decision in a proceeding for a minor civil dispute; 21
(ii) a decision that is not the tribunal's final decision in 22
a proceeding; 23
(iii) a costs order; and 24
(b) an appeal under subsection (1) on a question of fact, or a 25
question of mixed law and fact, may be made only if the 26
party has obtained the appeal tribunal's leave to appeal. 27
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Note-- 1
An enabling Act that is an Act may confer appeal jurisdiction on the 2
tribunal for decisions of other entities. See, for example, the Body 3
Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. 4
143 Appealing or applying for leave to appeal 5
(1) This section applies to-- 6
(a) an application for the appeal tribunal's leave to appeal to 7
the appeal tribunal against a decision of the tribunal or a 8
decision of another entity under an enabling Act; or 9
(b) an appeal to the appeal tribunal against-- 10
(i) a decision of the tribunal; or 11
(ii) a decision of another entity under an enabling Act. 12
(2) The application or appeal must-- 13
(a) be in a form substantially complying with the rules; and 14
(b) state the reasons for the application or appeal; and 15
(c) be accompanied by the prescribed fee (if any). 16
(3) An application for the appeal tribunal's leave to appeal must 17
be filed in the registry within 28 days after the relevant day. 18
(4) An appeal must be filed in the registry within-- 19
(a) if the appeal tribunal's leave is required for the 20
appeal--21 days after the leave is given; or 21
(b) otherwise--28 days after the relevant day. 22
Notes-- 23
1 Under section 6(7), an enabling Act that is an Act may provide for a 24
different period for applying for the appeal tribunal's leave to 25
appeal or for making an appeal. 26
2 Under section 61, the tribunal may extend the period within which a 27
person may apply for the appeal tribunal's leave to appeal or make 28
an appeal. 29
(5) In this section-- 30
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relevant day, for an application or appeal, means-- 1
(a) the day the person is given written reasons for the 2
decision being appealed against; or 3
(b) if a person makes an application under part 7, division 5, 4
6 or 7 about the decision being appealed against within 5
28 days after the person is given written reasons for the 6
decision--the day that application is finally dealt with 7
under that division. 8
144 Transfer to Court of Appeal 9
(1) This section applies if the president considers that-- 10
(a) an appeal made to the appeal tribunal under this division 11
could be more effectively or conveniently dealt with by 12
the Court of Appeal; and 13
(b) it would be appropriate for the appeal to be transferred 14
to the Court of Appeal. 15
(2) The president may transfer the appeal to the Court of Appeal 16
with the court's leave. 17
(3) If the president transfers the appeal to the Court of Appeal 18
under subsection (2)-- 19
(a) the appeal is taken to have been started before the Court 20
of Appeal when it was started before the tribunal; and 21
(b) the president may make the orders or give the directions 22
the president considers appropriate to facilitate the 23
transfer, including an order that a party is taken to have 24
complied with the requirements under an Act or other 25
law for starting an appeal before the Court of Appeal. 26
(4) An order under subsection (3)(b)-- 27
(a) is taken to be an order of the tribunal; and 28
(b) has effect despite any other Act or law. 29
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145 Effect of appeal on decision 1
(1) The start of an appeal under this division against a decision 2
does not affect the operation of the decision or prevent the 3
taking of action to implement the decision. 4
(2) However, the tribunal may make an order staying the 5
operation of the decision being appealed against until the 6
appeal is finally decided. 7
(3) The tribunal may act under subsection (2) on the application 8
of the appellant or on its own initiative. 9
(4) The tribunal's power to act under subsection (2) is exercisable 10
only by-- 11
(a) the tribunal constituted for the appeal; or 12
(b) if the tribunal has not been constituted for the appeal--a 13
judicial member. 14
146 Deciding appeal on question of law only 15
In deciding an appeal against a decision on a question of law 16
only, the appeal tribunal may-- 17
(a) confirm or amend the decision; or 18
(b) set aside the decision and substitute its own decision; or 19
(c) set aside the decision and return the matter to the 20
tribunal or other entity who made the decision for 21
reconsideration-- 22
(i) with or without the hearing of additional evidence 23
as directed by the appeal tribunal; and 24
(ii) with the other directions the appeal tribunal 25
considers appropriate; or 26
(d) make any other order it considers appropriate, whether 27
or not in combination with an order made under 28
paragraph (a), (b) or (c). 29
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147 Deciding appeal on question of fact or mixed law and fact 1
(1) This section applies to an appeal before the appeal tribunal 2
against a decision on a question of fact only or a question of 3
mixed law and fact. 4
(2) The appeal must be decided by way of rehearing, with or 5
without the hearing of additional evidence as decided by the 6
appeal tribunal. 7
(3) In deciding the appeal, the appeal tribunal may-- 8
(a) confirm or amend the decision; or 9
(b) set aside the decision and substitute its own decision. 10
148 Giving final decision in an appeal 11
The appeal tribunal must give its final decision in an appeal, 12
and the reasons for the decision, in writing, to-- 13
(a) each party to the appeal; and 14
(b) each other person to whom notice of the decision is 15
required to be given under an enabling Act or the rules; 16
and 17
(c) any other person the appeal tribunal reasonably 18
considers should be given notice of the decision. 19
Division 2 Appeals to Court of Appeal 20
149 Party may appeal--decisions of tribunal 21
(1) A party to a proceeding (other than an appeal under division 22
1) may appeal to the Court of Appeal against a cost-amount 23
decision of the tribunal in the proceeding, whether or not a 24
judicial member constituted the tribunal in the proceeding. 25
(2) A party to a proceeding (other than an appeal under division 26
1) may appeal to the Court of Appeal against another decision 27
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of the tribunal in the proceeding if a judicial member 1
constituted the tribunal in the proceeding. 2
(3) However-- 3
(a) an appeal under subsection (1) may be made only on a 4
question of law and only if the party has obtained the 5
court's leave to appeal; and 6
(b) an appeal under subsection (2) on a question of fact, or a 7
question of mixed law and fact, may be made only if the 8
party has obtained the court's leave to appeal. 9
(4) Also, a party to a proceeding can not appeal to the Court of 10
Appeal against a decision of the tribunal under section 35. 11
Note-- 12
An enabling Act may provide for appeals to the Court of Appeal against 13
decisions of the tribunal in different circumstances. See, for example, 14
the Legal Profession Act 2007, section 468. 15
150 Party may appeal--decisions of appeal tribunal 16
(1) A person may appeal to the Court of Appeal against a decision 17
of the appeal tribunal to refuse an application for leave to 18
appeal to the appeal tribunal. 19
(2) A party to an appeal under division 1 may appeal to the Court 20
of Appeal against the following decisions of the appeal 21
tribunal in the appeal-- 22
(a) a cost-amount decision; 23
(b) the final decision. 24
(3) However, an appeal under subsection (1) or (2) may be 25
made-- 26
(a) only on a question of law; and 27
(b) only if the party has obtained the court's leave to appeal. 28
151 Appealing or applying for leave to appeal 29
(1) This section applies to-- 30
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Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 8 Appeals etc.
[s 152]
(a) an application for the Court of Appeal's leave to appeal 1
to the court against a decision of the tribunal, made 2
under this Act or an enabling Act; or 3
(b) an appeal to the Court of Appeal against a decision of 4
the tribunal, under this Act or an enabling Act. 5
(2) The application or appeal must be made-- 6
(a) under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999; and 7
(b) within 28 days after the relevant day unless the Court of 8
Appeal orders otherwise. 9
(3) In this section-- 10
relevant day, for an application or appeal by a person, 11
means-- 12
(a) the day the person is given written reasons for the 13
decision being appealed against; or 14
(b) if a person makes an application under part 7, division 5, 15
6 or 7 about the decision being appealed against within 16
28 days after the person is given written reasons for the 17
decision--the day that application is finally dealt with 18
under that division. 19
152 Effect of appeal on decision 20
(1) The start of an appeal, under this division or an enabling Act, 21
against a decision of the tribunal does not affect the operation 22
of the decision or prevent the taking of action to implement 23
the decision. 24
(2) However, the Court of Appeal, or the tribunal as constituted 25
when the decision was made, may make an order staying the 26
operation of the decision until the appeal is finally decided. 27
(3) An order made by the Court of Appeal may be subject to the 28
conditions the court considers appropriate. 29
Note-- 30
Under section 114, an order made by the tribunal under this section may 31
also be subject to conditions. 32
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Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 8 Appeals etc.
[s 153]
(4) The Court of Appeal or the tribunal may make an order under 1
subsection (2) on the application of the appellant or on its own 2
initiative. 3
(5) If the tribunal makes an order under subsection (2), the Court 4
of Appeal may amend or revoke the order as if the order had 5
been made by the Court of Appeal. 6
153 Deciding appeal on question of law only 7
(1) This section applies to an appeal before the Court of Appeal 8
against a decision of the tribunal on a question of law only. 9
(2) In deciding the appeal, the Court of Appeal may-- 10
(a) confirm or amend the decision; or 11
(b) set aside the decision and substitute its own decision; or 12
(c) set aside the decision and return the matter to the 13
tribunal for reconsideration-- 14
(i) with or without the hearing of additional evidence 15
as directed by the court; and 16
(ii) with the other directions the court considers 17
appropriate; or 18
(d) make any other order it considers appropriate, whether 19
or not in combination with an order made under 20
paragraph (a), (b) or (c). 21
(3) If the Court of Appeal returns the matter to the tribunal for 22
reconsideration, the court must give directions about whether 23
or not the tribunal reconsidering the matter must be 24
constituted by the same persons who constituted the tribunal 25
when the decision was made. 26
154 Deciding appeal on question of fact or mixed law and fact 27
(1) This section applies to an appeal before the Court of Appeal 28
against a decision of the tribunal on a question of fact only or 29
a question of mixed law and fact. 30
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Chapter 2 Jurisdiction and procedure
Part 8 Appeals etc.
[s 155]
(2) The appeal must be decided by way of rehearing, with or 1
without the hearing of additional evidence as decided by the 2
Court of Appeal. 3
(3) In deciding the appeal, the Court of Appeal may-- 4
(a) confirm or amend the decision; or 5
(b) set aside the decision and substitute its own decision. 6
Division 3 Miscellaneous 7
155 Particular documents to be given to Court of Appeal 8
(1) This section applies if-- 9
(a) a question of law is referred to the Court of Appeal 10
under section 118; or 11
(b) an appeal is transferred to the Court of Appeal under 12
section 144; or 13
(c) a party to a proceeding appeals to the Court of Appeal 14
under division 2, or an enabling Act, against a decision 15
of the tribunal. 16
(2) The principal registrar must give the Court of Appeal-- 17
(a) all documents and other things that were before the 18
tribunal in connection with the proceeding to which the 19
referral or appeal relates; and 20
(b) all other documents or things in the tribunal's possession 21
that the tribunal is required by Uniform Civil Procedure 22
Rules 1999 to give to the court. 23
(3) The Court of Appeal must return the documents and other 24
things to the tribunal when the proceeding before the court 25
ends. 26
Page 105
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Reasons to be given for reviewable decisions
Part 8 Appeals etc.
[s 156]
156 Application of Judicial Review Act 1991 1
The Judicial Review Act 1991, parts 3 to 5 do not apply to a 2
decision or to the conduct of the tribunal in a proceeding other 3
than to the extent the decision or conduct is affected by 4
jurisdictional error. 5
Note-- 6
The Judicial Review Act 1991, part 3 deals with statutory orders of 7
review, part 4 deals with reasons for decisions and part 5 deals with 8
prerogative orders and injunctions. 9
Chapter 3 Reasons to be given for 10
reviewable decisions 11
157 Information notice to be given 12
(1) The decision-maker for a reviewable decision must give 13
written notice of the decision to each person who may apply 14
to the tribunal for a review of the decision. 15
(2) The notice must state the following-- 16
(a) the decision; 17
(b) the reasons for the decision; 18
Note-- 19
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 20
statement of reasons for decision). 21
(c) the person has a right to have the decision reviewed by 22
the tribunal; 23
(d) how, and the period within which, the person may apply 24
for the review; 25
(e) any right the person has to have the operation of the 26
decision stayed under section 22. 27
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Chapter 3 Reasons to be given for reviewable decisions
Part 8 Appeals etc.
[s 158]
(3) It is sufficient compliance with this section for the 1
decision-maker to give the person, as required under the 2
enabling Act, a written notice stating the matters mentioned in 3
subsection (2)(a) to (e). 4
(4) A failure to comply with this section does not affect the 5
validity of the reviewable decision. 6
158 Obtaining statement of reasons 7
(1) This section applies if a person who may apply to the tribunal 8
for a review of a reviewable decision has not been given a 9
written statement of the reasons for the decision. 10
(2) The person may ask the decision-maker for the reviewable 11
decision to give the person a written statement of the reasons 12
for the decision. 13
(3) The request must be-- 14
(a) in writing, whether by letter, facsimile or email; and 15
(b) made within 14 days after the person-- 16
(i) was notified of the decision; or 17
(ii) is, under an enabling Act, taken to have been given 18
notice of the decision by publication of the 19
decision in the gazette, a newspaper or in another 20
way; or 21
(iii) if subparagraph (i) or (ii) does not apply--the day 22
the person became aware of the decision. 23
(4) The decision-maker must give the person the statement within 24
a reasonable period of not more than 28 days after the request 25
is made. 26
Note-- 27
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of statement 28
of reasons for decision). 29
(5) The person is entitled to receive a written statement of reasons 30
for the reviewable decision whether or not the provision of the 31
enabling Act under which the decision is made requires that 32
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Chapter 3 Reasons to be given for reviewable decisions
Part 8 Appeals etc.
[s 159]
the person be given a written statement of reasons for the 1
decision. 2
159 Tribunal order requiring statement of reasons be given 3
(1) This section applies if-- 4
(a) under section 158, a person has asked the 5
decision-maker for a reviewable decision for a written 6
statement of the reasons for the decision; and 7
(b) the decision-maker has not given the person the 8
statement. 9
(2) The person may apply to the tribunal for an order that the 10
decision-maker give the person the statement. 11
(3) If the person applies for an order under subsection (2), the 12
person must give written notice of the application to the 13
decision-maker. 14
(4) If the tribunal is satisfied the person is entitled to receive the 15
statement, the tribunal may make an order requiring the 16
decision-maker to give the person the statement within the 17
period of not more than 28 days stated in the order. 18
160 Further statement 19
(1) This section applies if, under this division, the decision-maker 20
for a reviewable decision gives a written statement of reasons 21
for the decision to a person. 22
(2) The person may apply to the tribunal for an order under this 23
section against the decision-maker. 24
(3) If the tribunal considers the statement does not contain 25
adequate particulars of the reasons for the decision, the 26
tribunal may make an order requiring the decision-maker to 27
give the person, within a stated period, an additional statement 28
containing further and better particulars about stated matters. 29
Page 108
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 1 Establishment of tribunal
[s 161]
Chapter 4 Establishment and 1
administration 2
Part 1 Establishment of tribunal 3
161 Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal 4
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal is 5
established. 6
162 Independence 7
In exercising its jurisdiction, the tribunal-- 8
(a) must act independently; and 9
(b) is not subject to direction or control by any entity, 10
including any Minister. 11
163 Operating throughout Queensland 12
(1) The tribunal may be constituted at any place in Queensland. 13
(2) More than 1 tribunal may sit at the same time. 14
(3) When more than 1 tribunal is sitting at the same time, each 15
tribunal may exercise the jurisdiction and powers of the 16
tribunal. 17
164 Tribunal is a court of record 18
(1) The tribunal is a court of record. 19
(2) The tribunal must have a seal. 20
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 2 Constitution of tribunal
[s 165]
(3) The seal must be kept under the direction of the principal 1
registrar. 2
Part 2 Constitution of tribunal 3
165 Constitution generally 4
(1) The president must choose 1, 2 or 3 members, or an 5
adjudicator, to constitute the tribunal for a particular matter. 6
(2) The person or persons chosen by the president under 7
subsection (1) constitute, and may exercise all the jurisdiction 8
and powers of, the tribunal in relation to the matter. 9
(3) For an appeal, or a proceeding relating to an application for 10
leave to appeal to the appeal tribunal, a reference in this Act to 11
the tribunal includes a reference to the appeal tribunal 12
constituted, or to be constituted, for the appeal or proceeding. 13
(4) Subsection (3) does not limit another reference in this Act to 14
the tribunal being taken to include a reference to the tribunal 15
as constituted by the appeal tribunal, if the context requires or 16
permits. 17
166 Constitution of appeal tribunal 18
(1) The tribunal is to be constituted for an appeal or an 19
application for leave to appeal, under chapter 2, part 8, 20
division 1, by 1, 2 or 3 judicial members. 21
(2) If the president considers it appropriate for a particular appeal 22
or application for leave to appeal, the president may choose 1, 23
2 or 3 suitably qualified members to constitute the tribunal for 24
the appeal or application, whether or not in combination with 25
a judicial member. 26
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 2 Constitution of tribunal
[s 167]
167 Choosing persons 1
(1) In choosing the persons who are to constitute the tribunal for a 2
particular matter, or the number of persons who are to 3
constitute the tribunal, the president must consider the 4
following-- 5
(a) the nature, importance and complexity of the matter; 6
(b) the need for the tribunal hearing the matter to have 7
special knowledge, expertise or experience relating to 8
the matter; 9
(c) any provision of this Act, an enabling Act or the rules 10
that may be relevant; 11
(d) any other matter the president considers relevant. 12
Notes-- 13
1 See sections 171(8) and 192(6) for arrangements providing for 14
limitations on magistrates who are ordinary members, and 15
supplementary members, performing their functions as members. 16
2 Under section 195, an adjudicator can hear and decide only 17
particular matters. 18
(2) However, the president must not choose a person to constitute 19
the tribunal for a review of a reviewable decision if the 20
person-- 21
(a) is an employee or officer of the entity in which the 22
reviewable decision was made; or 23
(b) was, when the reviewable decision was made, an 24
employee or officer of the entity in which the reviewable 25
decision was made. 26
(3) Also, the president must not choose a person to constitute the 27
tribunal for an appeal against a decision of the tribunal if the 28
person constituted the tribunal that made the decision 29
appealed against. 30
(4) Further, if an enabling Act that is an Act provides that the 31
tribunal is to be constituted for a particular matter in a 32
particular way, the president must ensure the tribunal is 33
constituted in that way. 34
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 2 Constitution of tribunal
[s 168]
168 Reconstitution 1
(1) The president may change who is to constitute the tribunal for 2
a matter, including a change from 1, 2 or 3 members to an 3
adjudicator and a change from an adjudicator to 1, 2 or 3 4
members. 5
Examples of circumstances when the president may change who is to 6
constitute the tribunal-- 7
· a member constituting the tribunal becomes unavailable 8
· a member constituting the tribunal has or acquires an interest, 9
financial or otherwise, that may conflict with the proper 10
performance of the member's functions 11
· one of the parties to the proceeding objects to a member 12
constituting the tribunal 13
· an adjudicator refers a matter to the president under section 197 14
(2) The tribunal as reconstituted must continue to hear the matter 15
and decide it and, for that purpose, may have regard to the 16
decisions and any records of proceedings of the tribunal as 17
previously constituted, including any record of evidence. 18
169 Disclosure of interests 19
(1) This section applies if a member, or an adjudicator, who 20
constitutes the tribunal, is to constitute the tribunal or is to 21
carry out another function for a matter has or acquires an 22
interest, financial or otherwise, that may conflict with the 23
proper performance of the person's functions in relation to the 24
matter. 25
(2) The member or adjudicator-- 26
(a) must not take part in a proceeding for the matter or 27
exercise powers for it, unless all parties to the 28
proceeding agree otherwise; and 29
(b) for a member, other than the president, or an 30
adjudicator--must disclose the nature of the interest to 31
the president. 32
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 170]
(3) In this section-- 1
proceeding includes a compulsory conference. 2
170 Presiding member 3
(1) If the tribunal is constituted by a single member, that member 4
is the presiding member. 5
(2) If the tribunal is constituted by 2 or 3 members, the presiding 6
member is the member nominated by the president. 7
(3) For a matter for which the tribunal is constituted by an 8
adjudicator, a reference in this Act to the presiding member is 9
taken to be a reference to the adjudicator. 10
Part 3 Members of tribunal 11
Division 1 General 12
171 The members 13
(1) The members of the tribunal are-- 14
(a) the president; and 15
(b) the deputy president; and 16
(c) the senior members; and 17
(d) the ordinary members; and 18
(e) the supplementary members. 19
(2) Every magistrate, while the magistrate holds the office of 20
magistrate, is an ordinary member of the tribunal for minor 21
civil disputes. 22
(3) The other members of the tribunal, other than supplementary 23
members, are to be appointed by the Governor in Council. 24
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 172]
(4) Supplementary members are to be appointed by the Minister. 1
(5) The members of the tribunal are appointed under this Act and 2
not under the Public Service Act 2008. 3
(6) An appointment of a member of the tribunal under subsection 4
(3) or (4) must be made in writing. 5
(7) Divisions 3 and 4 do not apply to a magistrate who is an 6
ordinary member under subsection (2). 7
(8) However, section 192(4)(c), (5)(b) and (c), (6) and (9) to (11) 8
apply to a magistrate who is an ordinary member under 9
subsection (2) as if a reference in the section to a magistrate 10
appointed as a supplementary member included a reference to 11
a magistrate who is an ordinary member under subsection (2). 12
Division 2 The president and deputy president 13
172 President's functions generally 14
(1) The president has the functions conferred on the president 15
under this Act or an enabling Act that is an Act. 16
(2) The functions of the president include-- 17
(a) managing the business of the tribunal to ensure it 18
operates efficiently; and 19
(b) giving directions about the practices and procedures to 20
be followed by the tribunal; and 21
(c) managing the members of the tribunal and adjudicators 22
including-- 23
(i) developing a code of conduct for members and 24
adjudicators; and 25
(ii) ensuring the members and adjudicators are 26
adequately and appropriately trained to enable the 27
tribunal to perform its functions effectively and 28
efficiently; and 29
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 173]
(iii) undertaking performance management for 1
members and adjudicators; and 2
(iv) deciding selection criteria for appointment of 3
members and adjudicators, and overseeing the 4
selection process; and 5
(d) adjudicating in the tribunal; and 6
(e) advising the Minister about the appointment of 7
members of the tribunal and adjudicators, and the 8
suspension and removal of the members and 9
adjudicators from office; and 10
(f) developing a positive cohesive culture throughout the 11
tribunal's organisation. 12
(3) It is also a function of the president to advise the Minister 13
about-- 14
(a) how the tribunal could improve the carrying out of its 15
functions to ensure the way it deals with matters is fair, 16
just, economical, informal and quick; and 17
(b) how this Act or an enabling Act could be made more 18
effective. 19
(4) The president may do all things necessary or convenient to be 20
done for the performance of the president's functions. 21
(5) In performing the president's functions, the president is not 22
subject to direction or control by the Minister. 23
173 Directions for president's function about training 24
(1) The president may direct all members or adjudicators, a class 25
of members or adjudicators, or a particular member or 26
adjudicator, to participate in-- 27
(a) particular professional development; or 28
(b) particular continuing education or training activity. 29
(2) The direction must be in writing. 30
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 174]
(3) A person to whom a direction is given under subsection (1) 1
must comply with the direction unless the person has a 2
reasonable excuse. 3
Notes-- 4
1 Under section 188, a senior or ordinary member may be removed 5
from office if the member contravenes this subsection. 6
2 Under section 203, an adjudicator may be removed from office if 7
the adjudicator contravenes this subsection. 8
174 Deputy president's functions 9
(1) The deputy president has the functions conferred on the 10
deputy president under this Act or an enabling Act that is an 11
Act. 12
(2) The functions of the deputy president include the following-- 13
(a) assisting the president in managing the business of the 14
tribunal to ensure it operates efficiently; 15
(b) assisting the president in managing the members of the 16
tribunal and adjudicators, including the training of 17
members and overseeing their activities; 18
(c) adjudicating in the tribunal. 19
(3) The deputy president is subject to the direction of the 20
president in performing the deputy president's functions, 21
other than adjudicating in the tribunal. 22
(4) The deputy president may do all things necessary or 23
convenient to be done for the performance of the deputy 24
president's functions. 25
175 Appointment of the president 26
(1) The president must be a Supreme Court judge who is 27
recommended for appointment by the Minister after 28
consultation with the Chief Justice. 29
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 176]
(2) Subject to this Act, the president holds office for the period, of 1
at least 3 years but not more than 5 years, stated in the 2
president's instrument of appointment. 3
(3) A person appointed as president may be appointed as 4
president for a further period if-- 5
(a) the term of the appointment is at least 3 years, but not 6
more than 5 years, and does not immediately follow the 7
person's previous appointment as president; or 8
(b) the appointment is continuous on 1 or more of the 9
person's previous appointments as president and the 10
total period of the continuous appointments is not more 11
than 5 years. 12
(4) The appointment of a Supreme Court judge as president does 13
not affect any of the following-- 14
(a) the judge's tenure of office or status as a judge; 15
(b) the payment of the judge's salary or allowances as a 16
judge; 17
(c) any other right or privilege the judge has as a judge. 18
(5) Service in the office of president is taken, for all purposes, to 19
be service as a Supreme Court judge. 20
(6) Nothing in this Act prevents a person who holds office as the 21
president from doing anything in the person's capacity as a 22
Supreme Court judge. 23
176 Appointment of the deputy president 24
(1) The deputy president must be a District Court judge who is 25
recommended for appointment by the Minister after 26
consultation with the Chief Judge. 27
(2) Subject to this Act, the deputy president holds office for the 28
period, of at least 3 years but not more than 5 years, stated in 29
the deputy president's instrument of appointment. 30
(3) A person appointed as deputy president may be appointed as 31
deputy president for a further period if-- 32
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 177]
(a) the term of the appointment is at least 3 years, but not 1
more than 5 years, and does not immediately follow the 2
person's previous appointment as deputy president; or 3
(b) the appointment is continuous on 1 or more of the 4
person's previous appointments as deputy president and 5
the total period of the continuous appointments is not 6
more than 5 years. 7
(4) The appointment of a District Court judge as deputy president 8
does not affect any of the following-- 9
(a) the judge's tenure of office or status as a judge; 10
(b) the payment of the judge's salary or allowances as a 11
judge; 12
(c) any other right or privilege the judge has as a judge. 13
(5) Service in the office of deputy president is taken, for all 14
purposes, to be service as a District Court judge. 15
(6) Nothing in this Act prevents a person who holds office as 16
deputy president from doing anything in the person's capacity 17
as a District Court judge. 18
177 Conditions of appointment 19
The president or deputy president holds office on the 20
following conditions-- 21
(a) the conditions stated in this division; 22
(b) the conditions decided by the Governor in Council and 23
stated in the president's or deputy president's instrument 24
of appointment, to the extent the conditions are not 25
inconsistent with this division. 26
178 Vacancy of office 27
The office of the president or deputy president becomes 28
vacant if-- 29
(a) the member ceases to be-- 30
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 179]
(i) for the president--a Supreme Court judge; or 1
(ii) for the deputy president--a District Court judge; or 2
(b) the member resigns under section 179. 3
179 Resignation 4
(1) The president or deputy president may resign the president's 5
or deputy president's office by giving the Minister a signed 6
letter of resignation addressed to the Governor. 7
(2) A resignation does not have effect unless it is accepted by the 8
Governor. 9
(3) The resignation takes effect when the Governor accepts the 10
resignation or, if a later day is stated in the letter of 11
resignation, the later day stated in the letter. 12
180 Acting president 13
(1) If there is a vacancy in the office of president or the president 14
is absent or for any other reason is unable to perform the 15
functions of the office, the Minister may appoint a person to 16
act as president for a period of not more than 6 months. 17
(2) An appointment under this section must be made in writing. 18
(3) The Minister may appoint only the deputy president or a 19
Supreme Court judge to act as president. 20
(4) However, despite section 181(5)(b), the Minister can not 21
appoint a senior member acting as the deputy president to act 22
as president. 23
(5) The Minister must consult the Chief Justice before appointing 24
a Supreme Court judge to act as president. 25
(6) A person appointed to act as president-- 26
(a) has all the functions of the president; and 27
(b) is taken to be the president for all purposes relating to 28
this Act or an enabling Act. 29
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 181]
(7) Without limiting subsection (6)-- 1
(a) section 175(4) to (6) applies to a Supreme Court judge 2
acting as president as if the judge were the president; 3
and 4
(b) sections 178 and 179 apply to a person acting as 5
president as if the person were the president. 6
(8) If the deputy president is appointed to act as president, for the 7
period of the acting the deputy president is entitled to be paid 8
the remuneration and allowances payable to a Supreme Court 9
judge. 10
(9) A person appointed to act as president may be appointed to act 11
as president for a further period-- 12
(a) by the Minister, if the appointment is continuous on 1 or 13
more of the person's previous appointments as acting 14
president and the total period of continuous 15
appointments is not more than 6 months; or 16
(b) by the Governor in Council in other circumstances. 17
(10) The Governor in Council may at any time cancel the 18
appointment of a person to act as president. 19
181 Acting deputy president 20
(1) If there is a vacancy in the office of deputy president or the 21
deputy president is absent or for any other reason is unable to 22
perform the functions of the office, the Minister may appoint a 23
person to act as deputy president for a period of not more than 24
6 months. 25
(2) An appointment under this section must be made in writing. 26
(3) The Minister may appoint only a District Court judge, or a 27
senior member who is an Australian lawyer of at least 8 years 28
standing, to act as deputy president. 29
(4) The Minister must consult the Chief Judge before appointing 30
a District Court judge to act as deputy president. 31
(5) A person appointed to act as deputy president-- 32
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Chapter 4 Establishment and administration
Part 3 Members of tribunal
[s 182]
(a) has all the functions of the deputy president; and 1
(b) is taken to be the deputy president for all purposes 2
relating to this Act or an enabling Act. 3
(6) Without limiting subsection (5)-- 4
(a) section 176(4) to (6) applies to a District Court judge 5
acting as deputy president as if the judge were the 6
deputy president; and 7
(b) sections 178 and 179 apply to a person acting as deputy 8
president as if the person were the deputy president. 9
(7) If a senior member is appointed to act as deputy president, for 10
the period of the acting the senior member is entitled to be 11
paid the salary, but not the allowances, payable to a District 12
Court judge under the Judicial Remuneration Act 2007. 13
(8) A person appointed to act as deputy president may be 14
appointed to act as deputy president for a further period-- 15
(a) by the Minister, if the appointment is continuous on 1 or 16
more of the person's previous appointments as acting 17
deputy president and the total period of the continuous 18
appointments is not more than 6 months; or 19
(b) by the Governor in Council in other circumstances. 20
(9) The Governor in Council may at any time cancel the 21
appointment of a person to act as deputy president. 22
182 Delegation 23
(1) The president may delegate a function of the president under 24
this Act or an enabling Act to a member, adjudicator or the 25
principal registrar. 26
(2) The deputy president may delegate a function of the deputy 27
president under this Act or an enabling Act to a member, 28
adjudicator or the principal registrar. 29
(3) Subsection (1) or (2) does not apply to the president's or 30
deputy president's function of adjudicating in the tribunal. 31
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(4) Also, the president or deputy president may delegate a 1
function under subsection (1) or (2) only to a person the 2
president or deputy president is satisfied is appropriately 3
qualified to perform the function. 4
(5) In this section-- 5
appropriately qualified, for a function, includes having the 6
qualifications, experience or standing appropriate to perform 7
the function. 8
Division 3 Senior members and ordinary 9
members 10
183 Appointment of senior members and ordinary members 11
(1) As many senior members and ordinary members as are 12
required for the proper functioning of the tribunal must be 13
appointed. 14
(2) A senior member or ordinary member must be recommended 15
for appointment by the Minister after consultation with the 16
president. 17
(3) Subject to subsection (8), for selecting a person for 18
recommendation for appointment as a senior member or 19
ordinary member, the Minister must advertise for applications 20
from appropriately qualified persons to be considered for 21
selection. 22
(4) A person is eligible for appointment as a senior member only 23
if the person-- 24
(a) is an Australian lawyer of at least 8 years standing; or 25
(b) has, in the Minister's opinion, extensive knowledge, 26
expertise or experience relating to a class of matter for 27
which functions may be exercised by the tribunal. 28
(5) A person is eligible for appointment as an ordinary member 29
only if the person-- 30
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(a) is an Australian lawyer of at least 6 years standing; or 1
(b) has, in the Minister's opinion, special knowledge, 2
expertise or experience relating to a class of matter for 3
which functions may be exercised by the tribunal. 4
(6) In recommending persons for appointment as members, the 5
Minister must have regard to the following-- 6
(a) the need for balanced gender representation in the 7
membership of the tribunal; 8
(b) the need for membership of the tribunal to include 9
Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders; 10
(c) the need for the membership of the tribunal to reflect the 11
social and cultural diversity of the general community; 12
(d) the range of knowledge, expertise and experience of 13
members of the tribunal. 14
(7) A senior member or ordinary member holds office for the 15
period, of at least 3 years but not more than 5 years, stated in 16
the member's instrument of appointment. 17
(8) A person appointed as a senior member or ordinary member 18
may be reappointed, whether or not the vacancy in the 19
member's office has been advertised. 20
(9) A senior member or ordinary member may be appointed on a 21
full-time or part-time basis or on a sessional basis. 22
184 Criminal history checks 23
(1) This section applies in relation to the following persons-- 24
(a) a senior member or ordinary member; 25
(b) a person who is being considered for appointment as a 26
senior member or ordinary member (a prospective 27
member). 28
(2) The Minister may ask the commissioner of the police service 29
for-- 30
(a) a written report about the person's criminal history; and 31
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(b) a brief description of the circumstances of a conviction 1
or charge mentioned in the person's criminal history. 2
(3) However, if the request relates to a prospective member, the 3
Minister may make the request only if the person has given 4
the Minister written consent for the request. 5
(4) The commissioner of the police service must comply with the 6
request. 7
(5) However, subsection (4) applies only to information in the 8
commissioner's possession or to which the commissioner has 9
access. 10
(6) Before using information obtained under subsection (2) to 11
decide whether a person should continue to be a senior 12
member or ordinary member or be nominated for appointment 13
as a senior member or ordinary member, the Minister must-- 14
(a) disclose the information to the person; and 15
(b) allow the person a reasonable opportunity to make 16
representations to the Minister about the information. 17
(7) The Minister must ensure a report given under this section is 18
destroyed as soon as practicable after it is no longer needed 19
for the purpose for which it was requested. 20
185 Disclosure of changes in criminal history 21
(1) If there is a change in the criminal history of a senior member 22
or ordinary member, the member must, unless the member has 23
a reasonable excuse, immediately disclose the change to the 24
Minister. 25
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 26
(2) For a senior member or ordinary member who does not have a 27
criminal history, there is taken to be a change in the member's 28
criminal history if the member acquires a criminal history. 29
(3) To comply with subsection (1), the information disclosed by 30
the senior member or ordinary member about a conviction for 31
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an offence in the member's criminal history must include the 1
following-- 2
(a) the existence of the conviction; 3
(b) when the offence was committed; 4
(c) details adequate to identify the offence; 5
(d) whether or not a conviction was recorded; 6
(e) the sentence imposed on the member. 7
186 Conditions of appointment 8
(1) A senior member or ordinary member holds office on the 9
following conditions-- 10
(a) the conditions stated in this division; 11
(b) the conditions decided by the Governor in Council and 12
stated in the member's instrument of appointment, to the 13
extent the conditions are not inconsistent with this 14
division. 15
(2) A senior member or ordinary member is entitled to be paid the 16
remuneration and allowances decided by the Governor in 17
Council and stated in the member's instrument of 18
appointment. 19
(3) However, it is a condition of appointment of a senior member 20
or ordinary member that if the member is removed from office 21
under section 188, the member is not entitled to any 22
remuneration or allowances from the date of the removal. 23
(4) It is also a condition of appointment of a senior member or 24
ordinary member who is appointed on a full-time basis that 25
the member must not, without the president's consent, engage 26
in the practice of any profession or in any paid employment 27
(whether within or outside Queensland) outside the duties of 28
the member's office. 29
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[s 187]
187 Resignation 1
(1) A senior member or ordinary member may resign the 2
member's office by giving the Minister a signed letter of 3
resignation addressed to the Governor. 4
(2) A resignation does not have effect unless it is accepted by the 5
Governor. 6
(3) The resignation takes effect when the Governor accepts the 7
resignation or, if a later day is stated in the letter of 8
resignation, the later day stated in the letter. 9
188 Removal from office 10
(1) The Governor in Council may, on the Minister's 11
recommendation, remove a senior member or ordinary 12
member from the member's office if-- 13
(a) the member-- 14
(i) is mentally or physically incapable of satisfactorily 15
performing the member's functions; or 16
(ii) has performed the member's duties carelessly, 17
incompetently or inefficiently, including by 18
contravening a condition of the member's 19
appointment or section 173(3); or 20
(iii) has engaged in conduct that would warrant 21
dismissal from the public service if the member 22
were a public service officer; or 23
(b) the member has been convicted of an indictable offence, 24
whether dealt with on indictment or summarily; or 25
(c) the member becomes an insolvent under administration 26
as defined under the Corporations Act; or 27
(d) the member ceases to be eligible to be a senior member 28
or ordinary member. 29
(2) If the member has been suspended under section 189, the 30
Minister may make a recommendation under subsection (1) 31
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[s 189]
only if the member has been given an opportunity to make 1
oral and written submissions to-- 2
(a) the person conducting the investigation in relation to 3
which the member has been suspended; and 4
(b) either the president or deputy president. 5
(3) Also, the Minister must consult the president before making a 6
recommendation under subsection (1). 7
189 Suspension 8
(1) The president, with the Minister's approval, may suspend a 9
senior member or ordinary member from the member's office 10
if the president believes there may be grounds for the removal 11
of the member from the member's office. 12
(2) If a senior member or ordinary member who is appointed on a 13
full-time or part-time basis is suspended under subsection (1), 14
the member remains entitled to the member's usual 15
remuneration and allowances during the suspension. 16
190 Investigation of suspended member 17
(1) As soon as practicable after suspending a senior member or 18
ordinary member from the member's office under section 19
189(1), the president must appoint a person (the investigator) 20
to undertake an investigation into the conduct or 21
circumstances that led to the suspension. 22
(2) The investigator must-- 23
(a) investigate the conduct or circumstances leading to the 24
suspension; and 25
(b) report to the Minister on the investigation; and 26
(c) give a copy of the report to the member and the 27
president. 28
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(3) The investigator's report under subsection (2) may include a 1
recommendation that the member be removed from office on 2
a ground mentioned in section 188(1). 3
(4) The Minister may use a report given to the Minister under 4
subsection (2)(b) about a senior member or ordinary member 5
to decide whether or not to make a recommendation under 6
section 188 about the member. 7
(5) If the Minister decides not to make a recommendation under 8
section 188 about a senior member or ordinary member, the 9
Minister must notify the president and the member of the 10
decision as soon as practicable. 11
(6) If the president is notified under subsection (5) that the 12
Minister has decided not to make a recommendation under 13
section 188 about a senior member or ordinary member, the 14
president must immediately cancel the member's suspension. 15
191 Acting senior members and ordinary members 16
(1) If there is a vacancy in the office of a senior member or 17
ordinary member or the member is absent or for any other 18
reason is unable to perform the functions of the office, the 19
Minister may appoint a person to act as the member for a 20
period of not more than 6 months. 21
(2) The Minister may appoint only a person who is eligible to be 22
appointed to the office under-- 23
(a) for an office of a senior member--section 183(4); or 24
(b) for an office of an ordinary member--section 183(5). 25
(3) The Minister may appoint a person to act as a senior member 26
or ordinary member only after consultation with the president. 27
(4) A person appointed to act as a senior member or ordinary 28
member-- 29
(a) has all the functions of the member's office; and 30
(b) is taken to be a senior member or ordinary member for 31
all purposes relating to this Act or an enabling Act. 32
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(5) Without limiting subsection (4), section 187 applies to a 1
person acting as senior member or ordinary member as if the 2
person were a senior member or ordinary member. 3
(6) A person appointed to act as a senior member or ordinary 4
member may be appointed by the Minister to act as a senior 5
member or ordinary member for a further period if-- 6
(a) the term of the appointment does not immediately 7
follow the person's previous appointment as acting 8
senior member or ordinary member; or 9
(b) the appointment is continuous on 1 or more of the 10
person's previous appointments as acting senior member 11
or ordinary member and the total period of the 12
continuous appointments is not more than 6 months. 13
(7) The Minister may at any time cancel the appointment of a 14
person to act as a senior member or ordinary member. 15
Division 4 Supplementary members 16
192 Appointment of supplementary members 17
(1) If the president considers it necessary for the functioning of 18
the tribunal, the president may request the Minister to appoint 19
a person to be a supplementary member for a stated period. 20
(2) Only a Supreme court judge, District Court judge or 21
magistrate can be appointed as a supplementary member. 22
(3) Before appointing a person as a supplementary member, the 23
Minister must consult-- 24
(a) for appointing a Supreme Court judge--the Chief 25
Justice; or 26
(b) for appointing a District Court judge--the Chief Judge; 27
or 28
(c) for appointing a magistrate--the Chief Magistrate. 29
(4) The president may enter into an arrangement-- 30
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[s 192]
(a) with the Chief Justice about using Supreme Court 1
judges appointed as supplementary members to perform 2
their functions under this Act; or 3
(b) with the Chief Judge about using District Court judges 4
appointed as supplementary members to perform their 5
functions under this Act; or 6
(c) with the Chief Magistrate about using magistrates 7
appointed as supplementary members to perform their 8
functions under this Act. 9
(5) An arrangement under subsection (4) may provide for the 10
following for a judge or magistrate the subject of the 11
arrangement-- 12
(a) the matters the judge or magistrate may hear and decide; 13
(b) the time the judge or magistrate may allocate to 14
performing functions as a supplementary member; 15
(c) the places at which the judge or magistrate may 16
constitute the tribunal. 17
(6) If an arrangement under subsection (4) applies to a Supreme 18
Court judge, District Court judge or magistrate, the judge or 19
magistrate may perform a function as a supplementary 20
member only as authorised, and in the way provided, under 21
the arrangement. 22
(7) Section 175(4) to (6) applies to a Supreme Court judge 23
appointed as a supplementary member as if the judge were the 24
president. 25
(8) Section 176(4) to (6) applies to a District Court judge 26
appointed as a supplementary member as if the judge were the 27
deputy president. 28
(9) The appointment of a magistrate as a supplementary member 29
does not affect any of the following-- 30
(a) the magistrate's tenure of office or status as a 31
magistrate; 32
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(b) the payment of the magistrate's salary or allowances as a 1
magistrate; 2
(c) any other right or privilege the magistrate has as a 3
magistrate. 4
(10) Service by a magistrate in the office of supplementary 5
member is taken, for all purposes, to be service as a 6
magistrate. 7
(11) Nothing in this Act prevents a person who holds office as a 8
supplementary member from doing anything in the person's 9
capacity as a magistrate. 10
193 Vacancy of office 11
The office of a supplementary member becomes vacant if-- 12
(a) the member ceases to be-- 13
(i) for a supplementary member who is a Supreme 14
Court judge--a Supreme Court judge; or 15
(ii) for a supplementary member who is a District 16
Court judge--a District Court judge; or 17
(iii) for a supplementary member who is a 18
magistrate--a magistrate; or 19
(b) the supplementary member resigns under section 194. 20
194 Resignation 21
(1) A supplementary member may resign the member's office by 22
giving the Minister a signed letter of resignation. 23
(2) A resignation does not have effect unless it is accepted by the 24
Minister. 25
(3) The resignation takes effect when the Minister accepts the 26
resignation or, if a later day is stated in the letter of 27
resignation, the later day stated in the letter. 28
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[s 195]
Part 4 Adjudicators 1
195 Functions generally 2
An adjudicator may hear and decide any of the following 3
matters if chosen by the president to constitute the tribunal for 4
the matter-- 5
(a) a minor civil dispute; 6
(b) a non-contentious matter stated in the rules as a matter 7
an adjudicator may hear and decide; 8
(c) a matter stated in this Act, or an enabling Act that is an 9
Act, as a matter an adjudicator may hear and decide; 10
(d) another matter the president considers can be 11
appropriately heard and decided by an adjudicator 12
having regard to-- 13
(i) the nature, importance and complexity of the 14
matter; and 15
(ii) any special circumstances relating to the matter. 16
196 Independence 17
(1) An adjudicator when constituting the tribunal is not subject to 18
direction or control, other than as provided under this Act. 19
(2) However, an adjudicator must comply with the procedural 20
directions given by the president. 21
Note-- 22
Under section 203, an adjudicator may be removed from office if the 23
adjudicator contravenes this subsection. 24
197 Referring matters to president 25
(1) This section applies if-- 26
(a) a matter is before an adjudicator constituting the 27
tribunal; and 28
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[s 198]
(b) the adjudicator considers it would be more appropriate 1
for the matter to be decided by the tribunal as 2
constituted by 1, 2 or 3 members. 3
(2) The adjudicator must refer the matter to the president. 4
198 Appointment of adjudicators 5
(1) As many adjudicators as are required for the proper 6
functioning of the tribunal must be appointed. 7
(2) An adjudicator must be appointed by the Governor in Council 8
on recommendation from the Minister after consultation with 9
the president. 10
(3) An adjudicator is appointed under this Act and not under the 11
Public Service Act 2008. 12
(4) An appointment of an adjudicator must be made in writing. 13
(5) Subject to subsection (8), for selecting a person for 14
recommendation for appointment as an adjudicator, the 15
Minister must advertise for applications from appropriately 16
qualified persons to be considered for selection. 17
(6) A person is eligible for appointment as an adjudicator only if 18
the person is an Australian lawyer of at least 5 years standing. 19
(7) An adjudicator holds office for the period, of at least 3 but not 20
more than 5 years, stated in the adjudicator's instrument of 21
appointment. 22
(8) A person appointed as an adjudicator may be reappointed, 23
whether or not the vacancy in the adjudicator's office has been 24
advertised. 25
(9) An adjudicator may be appointed on a full-time or part-time 26
basis. 27
199 Criminal history checks 28
(1) This section applies in relation to the following persons-- 29
(a) an adjudicator; 30
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(b) a person who is being considered for appointment as an 1
adjudicator (a prospective adjudicator). 2
(2) The Minister may ask the commissioner of the police service 3
for-- 4
(a) a written report about the person's criminal history; and 5
(b) a brief description of the circumstances of a conviction 6
or charge mentioned in the person's criminal history. 7
(3) However, if the request relates to a prospective adjudicator, 8
the Minister may make the request only if the person has 9
given the Minister written consent for the request. 10
(4) The commissioner of the police service must comply with the 11
request. 12
(5) However, subsection (4) applies only to information in the 13
commissioner's possession or to which the commissioner has 14
access. 15
(6) Before using information obtained under subsection (2) to 16
decide whether a person should continue to be an adjudicator 17
or be nominated for appointment as an adjudicator the 18
Minister must-- 19
(a) disclose the information to the person; and 20
(b) allow the person a reasonable opportunity to make 21
representations to the Minister about the information. 22
(7) The Minister must ensure a report given under this section is 23
destroyed as soon as practicable after it is no longer needed 24
for the purpose for which it was requested. 25
200 Disclosure of changes in criminal history 26
(1) If there is a change in the criminal history of an adjudicator, 27
the adjudicator must, unless the adjudicator has a reasonable 28
excuse, immediately disclose the change to the Minister. 29
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 30
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[s 201]
(2) For an adjudicator who does not have a criminal history, there 1
is taken to be a change in the adjudicator's criminal history if 2
the adjudicator acquires a criminal history. 3
(3) To comply with subsection (1), the information disclosed by 4
an adjudicator about a conviction for an offence in the 5
adjudicator's criminal history must include the following-- 6
(a) the existence of the conviction; 7
(b) when the offence was committed; 8
(c) details adequate to identify the offence; 9
(d) whether or not a conviction was recorded; 10
(e) the sentence imposed on the adjudicator. 11
201 Conditions of appointment 12
(1) An adjudicator holds office on the following conditions-- 13
(a) the conditions stated in this part; 14
(b) the conditions decided by the Governor in Council and 15
stated in the adjudicator's instrument of appointment, to 16
the extent the conditions are not inconsistent with this 17
part. 18
(2) An adjudicator is entitled to be paid the remuneration and 19
allowances decided by the Governor in Council and stated in 20
the adjudicator's instrument of appointment. 21
(3) However, it is a condition of appointment of an adjudicator 22
that if the adjudicator is removed from office under section 23
203, the adjudicator is not entitled to any remuneration or 24
allowances from the date of the removal. 25
(4) It is a condition of appointment of an adjudicator who is 26
appointed on a full-time basis that the adjudicator must not, 27
without the president's consent, engage in the practice of any 28
profession or in any paid employment (whether within or 29
outside Queensland) outside the duties of the adjudicator's 30
office. 31
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[s 202]
202 Resignation 1
(1) An adjudicator may resign the adjudicator's office by giving 2
the Minister a signed letter of resignation addressed to the 3
Governor. 4
(2) A resignation does not have effect unless it is accepted by the 5
Governor. 6
(3) The resignation takes effect when the Governor accepts the 7
resignation or, if a later day is stated in the letter of 8
resignation, the later day stated in the letter. 9
203 Removal from office 10
(1) The Governor in Council may, on the Minister's 11
recommendation, remove an adjudicator from the 12
adjudicator's office if-- 13
(a) the adjudicator-- 14
(i) is mentally or physically incapable of satisfactorily 15
performing the adjudicator's functions; or 16
(ii) has performed the adjudicator's duties carelessly, 17
incompetently or inefficiently, including by 18
contravening a condition of the adjudicator's 19
appointment or section 173(3) or 196(2); or 20
(iii) has engaged in conduct that would warrant 21
dismissal from the public service if the adjudicator 22
were a public service officer; or 23
(b) the adjudicator has been convicted of an indictable 24
offence, whether dealt with on indictment or summarily; 25
or 26
(c) the adjudicator becomes an insolvent under 27
administration as defined under the Corporations Act. 28
(d) the adjudicator ceases to be eligible to be an adjudicator. 29
(2) If the adjudicator has been suspended under section 204, the 30
Minister may make a recommendation under subsection (1) 31
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[s 204]
only if the adjudicator has been given an opportunity to make 1
oral and written submissions to-- 2
(a) the person conducting the investigation in relation to 3
which the adjudicator has been suspended; and 4
(b) either the president or deputy president. 5
(3) Also, the Minister must consult the president before making a 6
recommendation under subsection (1). 7
204 Suspension 8
(1) The president, with the Minister's approval, may suspend an 9
adjudicator from the adjudicator's office if the president 10
believes there may be grounds for the removal of the 11
adjudicator from the adjudicator's office. 12
(2) If an adjudicator is suspended under subsection (1), the 13
adjudicator remains entitled to the adjudicator's usual 14
remuneration and allowances during the suspension. 15
205 Investigation of suspended adjudicator 16
(1) As soon as practicable after suspending an adjudicator from 17
the adjudicator's office under section 204, the president must 18
appoint a person (the investigator) to undertake an 19
investigation into the conduct or circumstances that led to the 20
suspension. 21
(2) The investigator must-- 22
(a) investigate the conduct or circumstances leading to the 23
suspension; and 24
(b) report to the Minister on the investigation; and 25
(c) give a copy of the report to the adjudicator and the 26
president. 27
(3) The investigator's report under subsection (2) may include a 28
recommendation that the adjudicator be removed from office 29
on a ground mentioned in section 203(1). 30
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[s 206]
(4) The Minister may use a report given to the Minister under 1
subsection (2)(b) about an adjudicator to decide whether or 2
not to make a recommendation under section 203 about the 3
adjudicator. 4
(5) If the Minister decides not to make a recommendation under 5
section 203 about an adjudicator, the Minister must notify the 6
president and the adjudicator of the decision as soon as 7
practicable. 8
(6) If the president is notified under subsection (5) that the 9
Minister has decided not to make a recommendation under 10
section 203 about an adjudicator, the president must 11
immediately cancel the adjudicator's suspension. 12
206 Acting adjudicators 13
(1) If there is a vacancy in the office of an adjudicator or the 14
adjudicator is absent or for any other reason is unable to 15
perform the functions of the office, the Minister may appoint a 16
person to act as the adjudicator for a period of not more than 6 17
months. 18
(2) The Minister may appoint only a person who is eligible to be 19
appointed to the office under section 198(6). 20
(3) The Minister may appoint a person to act as an adjudicator 21
only after consultation with the president. 22
(4) A person appointed to act as an adjudicator-- 23
(a) has all the functions of the adjudicator's office; and 24
(b) is taken to be an adjudicator for all purposes relating to 25
this Act or an enabling Act. 26
(5) Without limiting subsection (4), section 202 applies to a 27
person acting as adjudicator as if the person were an 28
adjudicator. 29
(6) A person appointed to act as adjudicator may be appointed by 30
the Minister to act as adjudicator for a further period if-- 31
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[s 207]
(a) the term of the appointment does not immediately 1
follow the person's previous appointment as acting 2
adjudicator; or 3
(b) the term of the appointment is continuous on 1 or more 4
of the person's previous appointments as acting 5
adjudicator and the total period of the continuous 6
appointments is not more than 6 months. 7
(7) The Minister may at any time cancel the appointment of a 8
person to act as an adjudicator. 9
Part 5 The Queensland Civil and 10
Administrative Tribunal 11
Registry 12
207 Registry established 13
(1) The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Registry 14
(the registry) is established. 15
(2) The registry consists of the principal registrar and the 16
registrars and other administrative staff of the registry. 17
(3) The registry is the registry for the tribunal. 18
208 Appointment of officers and staff 19
(1) The principal registrar, and the registrars and other 20
administrative staff of the registry are to be appointed under 21
the Public Service Act 2008. 22
(2) A person is eligible for appointment as the principal registrar 23
only if the person is appropriately qualified. 24
(3) Also, a person may be appointed as the principal registrar 25
only after consultation with the president. 26
(4) In this section-- 27
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[s 209]
appropriately qualified includes having the qualifications, 1
experience or standing appropriate to perform the functions of 2
the principal registrar under this Act. 3
209 Role of chief executive 4
(1) The chief executive's functions include-- 5
(a) managing the administrative support services relating to 6
the tribunal; and 7
(b) appointing, under section 208, the principal registrar and 8
registrars and other administrative staff of the registry to 9
help the president to manage the tribunal's business. 10
(2) The chief executive may do all things necessary or convenient 11
to be done for the performance of the chief executive's 12
functions under subsection (1). 13
210 Principal registrar 14
(1) The principal registrar has the functions conferred on the 15
principal registrar under this Act or an enabling Act that is an 16
Act. 17
(2) In carrying out the functions mentioned in subsection (1), the 18
principal registrar is subject to the direction of the president. 19
(3) The principal registrar may do all things necessary or 20
convenient to be done for the performance of the principal 21
registrar's functions. 22
211 Registrar 23
(1) A registrar may perform the functions of the principal 24
registrar subject to the direction of the president and the 25
principal registrar. 26
(2) The registrar may do all things necessary or convenient to be 27
done for the performance of the registrar's functions. 28
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[s 212]
212 Principal registrar must disclose interests 1
(1) This section applies if the principal registrar who is to perform 2
a function under this Act in relation to a particular proceeding 3
has or acquires an interest, financial or otherwise, that may 4
conflict with the proper performance of the function. 5
(2) The principal registrar must-- 6
(a) disclose the nature of the interest to the president; and 7
(b) not take part in the proceeding or exercise powers in 8
relation to it, unless all parties to the proceeding agree 9
otherwise. 10
(3) In this section-- 11
principal registrar includes a registrar performing a function 12
of the principal registrar under section 211(1). 13
proceeding includes a compulsory conference. 14
Chapter 5 General 15
Part 1 Offences and contempt 16
213 Contravening decision 17
(1) A person must not, without reasonable excuse, contravene a 18
decision of the tribunal. 19
Note-- 20
See also section 218 (Contempt of tribunal). 21
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 22
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if or to the extent that the 23
decision is a monetary decision. 24
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[s 214]
214 Offences by witnesses 1
(1) A person given a notice under section 97 must not fail, 2
without reasonable excuse-- 3
(a) to attend as required by the notice; or 4
(b) to continue to attend as required by the tribunal until 5
excused from further attendance. 6
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 7
(2) A person appearing as a witness at a hearing of a proceeding 8
must not-- 9
(a) fail to take an oath when required by the tribunal; or 10
(b) fail, without reasonable excuse, to answer a question the 11
person is required to answer by the tribunal; or 12
(c) fail, without reasonable excuse, to produce a document 13
or other thing the person is required to produce by a 14
notice under section 97. 15
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 16
(3) It is a reasonable excuse for an individual to refuse to answer 17
a question or produce a document or other thing if the answer 18
or the production of the document or thing might tend to 19
incriminate the person. 20
Note-- 21
See also section 237(9) (Immunity of participants etc.). 22
215 Warrant may be issued if witness does not attend 23
(1) If the tribunal gives a person a notice under section 97 24
requiring the person to attend at a stated hearing of a 25
proceeding and the person does not attend as required by the 26
notice, the tribunal may-- 27
(a) issue a warrant directed to a police officer to bring the 28
person at the time, and to the place, stated in the warrant 29
to give evidence at a proceeding before the tribunal; and 30
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[s 216]
Note-- 1
For particular police powers under a warrant, see the Police 2
Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, sections 21 (General 3
power to enter to arrest or detain someone or enforce warrant) 4
and 615 (Power to use force against individuals). 5
(b) adjourn the hearing to the time and place mentioned in 6
paragraph (a) on terms as to costs the tribunal considers 7
appropriate. 8
(2) A warrant issued under subsection (1) is sufficient authority 9
for a police officer to execute it according to its terms. 10
216 False or misleading information 11
(1) A person must not state to an official anything the person 12
knows is false or misleading in a material particular. 13
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 14
(2) A person must not give an official a document containing 15
information the person knows is false or misleading in a 16
material particular. 17
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 18
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person if the person, when 19
giving the document-- 20
(a) tells the official, to the best of the person's ability, how it 21
is false or misleading; and 22
(b) if the person has, or can reasonably obtain, the correct 23
information--gives the correct information. 24
(4) In this section-- 25
official-- 26
(a) includes a registry staff member; and 27
(b) does not include a mediator. 28
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[s 217]
217 Influencing participants 1
A person must not improperly influence, or attempt to 2
improperly influence, a person in relation to the person's 3
participation in a proceeding, whether as a member, 4
adjudicator, a party or a witness, to act other than in the course 5
of the person's duty in relation to the proceeding. 6
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 7
218 Contempt of tribunal 8
(1) The circumstances in which a person is in contempt of the 9
tribunal include if the person-- 10
(a) insults a member or adjudicator, the principal registrar, a 11
registrar or registry staff member, who is performing 12
functions under this Act; or 13
(b) obstructs or assaults a person attending a proceeding, 14
compulsory conference or mediation; or 15
(c) obstructs or hinders a person from complying with a 16
decision of the tribunal, or a notice given by the tribunal 17
under section 97; or 18
Editor's note-- 19
Section 97 (Requiring witness to attend or produce a document 20
or thing) 21
(d) unreasonably interrupts a proceeding, compulsory 22
conference or mediation, or otherwise misbehaves at a 23
proceeding, compulsory conference or mediation; or 24
(e) creates or continues, or joins in creating or continuing, a 25
disturbance in or near a place where the tribunal is 26
sitting; or 27
(f) contravenes an undertaking the person has given to the 28
tribunal; or 29
(g) commits an offence against this part. 30
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[s 219]
Note-- 1
See also section 222 (Court's powers relating to person 2
contravening non-publication order). 3
(2) A child is not in contempt under subsection (1) if the thing 4
that would otherwise constitute contempt is done by the child 5
in the course of, or relates in any way to, a review of a 6
reviewable decision about the child. 7
219 Punishment of contempt 8
(1) The tribunal has, for itself, all the protection, powers, 9
jurisdiction and authority the Supreme Court has, for that 10
court, in relation to contempt. 11
(2) The tribunal must comply with the Uniform Civil Procedure 12
Rules 1999 relating to contempt, with necessary changes, 13
including changes prescribed under the rules. 14
(3) The principal registrar may apply to the tribunal for an order 15
that a person be committed to prison for contempt of the 16
tribunal. 17
(4) The tribunal's jurisdiction and powers to punish a contempt of 18
the tribunal may be exercised on the application of a person or 19
on its own initiative. 20
(5) The tribunal's jurisdiction and powers to punish a contempt of 21
the tribunal may be exercised only by a judicial member. 22
(6) If contempt is committed in the face of the tribunal and the 23
tribunal is not constituted by a judicial member, the presiding 24
member of the tribunal may certify the contempt in writing to 25
the president. 26
(7) For subsection (6), it is enough for the presiding member to be 27
satisfied there is evidence of contempt. 28
(8) The tribunal has jurisdiction to punish an act or omission as a 29
contempt of the tribunal even though a penalty is prescribed 30
for the act or omission. 31
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[s 220]
220 Tribunal may exclude person 1
(1) The tribunal may make an order-- 2
(a) excluding a disruptive person from the place the tribunal 3
is sitting; and 4
(b) authorising 1 or more tribunal staff members to remove 5
a disruptive person from the place the tribunal is sitting. 6
(2) If the tribunal makes an order under subsection (1), the order 7
is taken to be an authorising law for the purposes of the Police 8
Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 16. 9
Note-- 10
The Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 16 provides 11
for a police officer, if a public official asks, to help the public official 12
perform the public official's functions under an authorising law. 13
(3) If the tribunal makes an order under subsection (1)(b), it is 14
lawful for the tribunal staff members, and any person helping 15
the tribunal staff members, to remove the disruptive person 16
from the place the tribunal is sitting, using necessary and 17
reasonable force for the purpose. 18
(4) In this section-- 19
tribunal staff member means the principal registrar, a 20
registrar or a registry staff member. 21
221 Person not to be punished twice for same conduct 22
(1) If conduct of a person is both contempt of the tribunal and 23
contempt of a court, the person may be proceeded against for 24
the contempt of the tribunal or for the contempt of the court, 25
but the person is not liable to be punished twice for the same 26
conduct. 27
(2) If conduct of a person is both contempt of the tribunal or a 28
court and an offence, the person may be proceeded against for 29
the contempt or for the offence, but the person is not liable to 30
be punished twice for the same conduct. 31
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[s 222]
222 Court's powers relating to person contravening 1
non-publication order 2
(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) the tribunal makes a non-publication order prohibiting 4
or restricting the publication or disclosure of a matter; 5
and 6
(b) a court is hearing-- 7
(i) a prosecution for an offence against section 213 or 8
an enabling Act relating to a contravention of the 9
order; or 10
(ii) an appeal about a prosecution for an offence 11
against section 213 or an enabling Act relating to a 12
contravention of the order; and 13
(c) the court considers that, in the circumstances, the court 14
should prohibit or restrict the publication or disclosure 15
of the matter. 16
(2) The court may make an order prohibiting or restricting the 17
publication or disclosure of the matter. 18
(3) A contravention of an order made under subsection (2) is 19
contempt of the court. 20
(4) In this section-- 21
matter includes-- 22
(a) a document or other thing; and 23
(b) a part of, or the contents of, a document or other thing; 24
and 25
(c) evidence; and 26
(d) information. 27
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Part 2 Rules committee, rules and practice directions
[s 223]
Part 2 Rules committee, rules and 1
practice directions 2
223 The rules committee 3
(1) The president must establish a rules committee consisting of 4
the following members-- 5
(a) the president; 6
(b) the deputy president; 7
(c) a senior member or ordinary member who is appointed 8
on a full-time basis; 9
(d) a member who is not an Australian lawyer; 10
(e) other members or adjudicators the president considers 11
appropriate. 12
(2) The president is the chairperson of the rules committee. 13
(3) The functions of the rules committee include-- 14
(a) developing and reviewing the rules under this Act; and 15
(b) approving forms for use under this Act; and 16
(c) the other functions conferred on the rules committee 17
under this Act or an enabling Act that is an Act. 18
(4) The rules committee may conduct its business and 19
proceedings at meetings in the way it decides. 20
(5) However, the chairperson has a deliberative vote and, in the 21
event of an equality of votes, a casting vote. 22
224 Rule-making power 23
(1) The Governor in Council may make rules under this Act for-- 24
(a) the practices and procedures of the tribunal or its 25
registry, including practices and procedures for 26
jurisdiction conferred on the tribunal by an enabling 27
Act; or 28
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[s 225]
(b) a matter mentioned in schedule 2. 1
(2) A rule may only be made with the consent of the rules 2
committee. 3
Note-- 4
See, however, section 277 (Initial rules). 5
(3) The rules may provide that a person is disqualified from being 6
a representative of a party to a proceeding if the person has 7
been-- 8
(a) the subject of a stated disciplinary proceeding under an 9
Act, a law of the Commonwealth or another State, or the 10
rules of a professional or occupational association or 11
other body; and 12
(b) found guilty in the proceeding of a stated type of 13
professional misconduct (however called) or a breach of 14
another stated professional or occupational standard. 15
225 Rules are exempt from automatic expiry 16
The Statutory Instruments Act 1992, part 7 does not apply to 17
the rules. 18
Editor's note-- 19
Statutory Instruments Act 1992, part 7 (Staged automatic expiry of 20
subordinate legislation) 21
226 Practice directions 22
(1) The president may make practice directions for the tribunal 23
about the practices and procedures of the tribunal not 24
provided for, or not sufficiently provided for, in this Act, an 25
enabling Act or the rules. 26
(2) A practice direction must not be inconsistent with this Act, an 27
enabling Act or the rules. 28
(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that a practice direction is 29
not subordinate legislation. 30
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Part 3 Miscellaneous provisions
[s 227]
(4) In this section-- 1
enabling Act means an enabling Act that is an Act. 2
Part 3 Miscellaneous provisions 3
Division 1 Operation of tribunal 4
227 Arrangements with ombudsman 5
(1) The tribunal may enter into an arrangement with the 6
ombudsman providing for-- 7
(a) the applications or referrals under this Act that the 8
tribunal should refer to the ombudsman because they-- 9
(i) relate to administrative actions; and 10
(ii) would be more appropriately dealt with by the 11
ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 2001; or 12
(b) the complaints under the Ombudsman Act 2001 that the 13
ombudsman should refer to the tribunal because they-- 14
(i) relate to decisions or other actions for which the 15
tribunal has jurisdiction; and 16
(ii) would be more appropriately dealt with by the 17
tribunal under this Act; or 18
(c) how to deal with an administrative action that is the 19
subject of a complaint, preliminary inquiry or 20
investigation under the Ombudsman Act 2001 and an 21
application or referral under this Act; or 22
(d) the cooperative performance by the tribunal and the 23
ombudsman of their respective functions relating to 24
administrative actions. 25
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[s 228]
(2) If an arrangement entered into under subsection (1) provides 1
for referrals as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b), the 2
arrangement must also provide for how the referral is to be 3
made. 4
(3) The tribunal and the ombudsman are empowered to perform 5
their functions in accordance with any relevant arrangement 6
entered into under this section. 7
(4) In this section-- 8
administrative action has the meaning given by the 9
Ombudsman Act 2001, section 7. 10
228 Oath of office 11
(1) This section applies to a person who, under this Act, holds any 12
of the following offices or who is appointed to act in any of 13
the following offices-- 14
(a) president; 15
(b) deputy president; 16
(c) senior member; 17
(d) ordinary member; 18
(e) supplementary member; 19
(f) adjudicator. 20
(2) Before the person performs any function of the office, the 21
person must take or make the oath prescribed under a 22
regulation before the following person-- 23
(a) for a magistrate who is an ordinary member under 24
section 171(2)--the Chief Justice; 25
(b) for a person appointed as president, deputy president or 26
a supplementary member, or to act in the office of the 27
president or deputy president--the Chief Justice; 28
(c) for a person appointed as a senior member, ordinary 29
member or adjudicator, or to act in the office of a senior 30
member, ordinary member or an adjudicator-- 31
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[s 229]
(i) if the person is an Australian lawyer--the Chief 1
Justice or, if the Chief Justice nominates the 2
president to hear the oath, the president; or 3
(ii) otherwise--the president. 4
229 Register of proceedings 5
(1) The principal registrar must keep a register of proceedings 6
(the register) containing the matters stated in the rules. 7
(2) The principal registrar must ensure the register is available for 8
inspection by the public at the main office of the registry 9
during office hours on business days. 10
(3) A party to a proceeding may inspect the part of the register 11
relating to the proceeding without charge. 12
(4) Another person may, on payment of the prescribed fee (if 13
any)-- 14
(a) inspect the register; or 15
(b) obtain a copy of a part of the register. 16
(5) This section does not authorise, entitle or permit a person to 17
access a part of the register containing anything whose 18
publication or disclosure to the person is prohibited by a 19
non-publication order. 20
230 Record for proceeding 21
(1) The principal registrar must, for each proceeding, keep a 22
record containing all documents filed in the registry for the 23
proceeding. 24
(2) A party to a proceeding may, without charge, inspect the 25
record kept for the proceeding under subsection (1). 26
(3) Another person may, on payment of the prescribed fee (if 27
any)-- 28
(a) inspect a record kept under subsection (1); or 29
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[s 231]
(b) obtain a copy of a part of a record kept under subsection 1
(1). 2
(4) This section does not authorise, entitle or permit a person to 3
access a part of a record containing anything whose 4
publication or disclosure to the person is prohibited under a 5
non-publication order. 6
231 Trust account 7
(1) The tribunal must maintain a trust account to receive and hold 8
amounts ordered by the tribunal to be paid to the trust account 9
for a proceeding. 10
(2) The tribunal must pay amounts from the trust account as 11
ordered by the tribunal. 12
(3) Interest on the trust account is to be applied to the cost of 13
keeping the account and administering the tribunal. 14
232 Annual report 15
(1) As soon as practicable after each financial year, but not later 16
than 30 September, the president must give the Minister a 17
report containing-- 18
(a) a review of the operation of the tribunal during the 19
preceding financial year; and 20
(b) details of the number, nature and outcome of matters 21
that came before the tribunal during the preceding 22
financial year; and 23
(c) details of the number and nature of matters before the 24
tribunal that were outstanding at the end of the 25
preceding financial year; and 26
(d) details of any trends or special problems that emerged 27
during the preceding financial year; and 28
(e) forecasts of the workload of the tribunal in the present 29
financial year; and 30
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[s 233]
(f) proposals for improving the operation of the tribunal in 1
the present financial year; and 2
(g) proposals for improving the quality of decision-making 3
across government. 4
(2) The Minister must table a copy of the report in the Legislative 5
Assembly within 14 sitting days after receiving the report. 6
Division 2 Confidentiality 7
233 Confidentiality generally 8
(1) This section applies to a prescribed person who has, in the 9
course of administering this Act or because of an opportunity 10
provided by involvement in administering this Act-- 11
(a) acquired information about someone else; or 12
(b) gained access to a document about someone else. 13
(2) The prescribed person must not do either of the following-- 14
(a) disclose to anyone else-- 15
(i) the information; or 16
(ii) the contents of or information contained in the 17
document; 18
(b) give access to the document to anyone else. 19
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units or 1 years 20
imprisonment. 21
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to the disclosure of information, 22
or the giving of access to a document, about a person-- 23
(a) with the person's consent; or 24
(b) in connection with the performance of a function under 25
this Act or an enabling Act; or 26
(c) to a police officer for reporting a suspected offence or 27
assisting in the investigation of a suspected offence, if 28
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[s 234]
the president consents to the disclosure or giving of 1
access; or 2
(d) if the disclosure or access is necessary to prevent or, 3
minimise the risk of, harm to a child or injury to a 4
person; or 5
(e) to a person approved by the Minister if the disclosure or 6
giving of access is of statistical or other information that 7
could not reasonably be expected to result in the 8
identification of the person to whom the information 9
relates; or 10
(f) as required or authorised under an Act or law. 11
(4) Also, subsection (2) does not apply to the disclosure of 12
information, or the giving of access to a document, about a 13
person if the information disclosed or accessed is only-- 14
(a) something that was said or otherwise disclosed at a 15
hearing of a proceeding that was held in public; or 16
(b) a decision, or reasons for the decision, of the tribunal. 17
(5) In this section-- 18
prescribed person means a person who is or has been 19
involved in the administration of this Act, including a person 20
who is or has been any of the following-- 21
(a) an official; 22
(b) a registry staff member; 23
(c) a person acting under the authority or direction of the 24
tribunal or the chief executive. 25
234 Further limitation on disclosure to a court etc. 26
(1) A court can not compel a prescribed person to do either of the 27
following other than for the purpose of administering this Act 28
or an enabling Act-- 29
(a) produce to the court a document that-- 30
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[s 234]
(i) has come into the prescribed person's possession in 1
the course of administering this Act or because of 2
an opportunity provided by involvement in 3
administering this Act; and 4
(ii) is or contains a protected item; 5
(b) disclose to the court information that-- 6
(i) has come to the person's knowledge in the course 7
of administering this Act or because of an 8
opportunity provided by involvement in 9
administering this Act; and 10
(ii) is or is a part of a protected item. 11
(2) In this section-- 12
court includes a tribunal and any other entity that has the 13
power to require a prescribed person to produce a document 14
or answer a question. 15
prescribed person means a person who is or has been 16
involved in the administration of this Act, including a person 17
who is or has been any of the following-- 18
(a) an official; 19
(b) a registry staff member; 20
(c) a person acting under the authority or direction of the 21
tribunal or chief executive. 22
protected item means-- 23
(a) information, evidence, or a document or other thing 24
obtained by the tribunal in a proceeding that was held in 25
private; or 26
(b) something the subject of a non-publication order, if the 27
production or disclosure of the thing to the court would 28
contravene the order. 29
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[s 235]
Division 3 Evidentiary provisions 1
235 Appointment and authority 2
(1) For a proceeding under an Act, the following must be 3
presumed unless a party to the proceeding, by prescribed 4
notice, requires proof of it-- 5
(a) the appointment of an official; 6
(b) the authority of an official to do anything under this Act. 7
(2) In this section-- 8
prescribed notice, for a proceeding under an Act, means 9
notice at least 14 days before the day a court starts to hear the 10
proceeding. 11
236 Signatures and documents 12
(1) A signature purporting to be the signature of an official is 13
evidence of the signature it purports to be. 14
(2) A certificate purporting to be signed by the principal registrar 15
stating either of the following is, on its production in any 16
criminal, civil or other proceeding, evidence of the matter-- 17
(a) that a stated document is a decision, or a copy of a 18
decision, of the tribunal; 19
(b) that a stated document is a record or document, a copy 20
of a record or document, or an extract from a record or 21
document, kept under this Act. 22
Division 4 Protection from liability 23
237 Immunity of participants etc. 24
(1) A member has, in the performance of the member's functions 25
as a member, the same protection and immunity as a Supreme 26
Court judge has in the performance of a judge's functions. 27
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[s 237]
(2) An adjudicator has, in the performance of the adjudicator's 1
functions as an adjudicator, the same protection and immunity 2
as a Supreme Court judge has in the performance of a judge's 3
functions. 4
(3) A mediator has, in the performance of the mediator's 5
functions as a mediator, the same protection and immunity as 6
a Supreme Court judge has in the performance of a judge's 7
functions. 8
(4) A person who on behalf of the tribunal takes evidence under 9
section 96 has, in taking the evidence, the same protection and 10
immunity as a Supreme Court judge has in the performance of 11
a judge's functions. 12
(5) An assessor, in the performance of the assessor's functions as 13
an assessor under this Act or an enabling Act, has the same 14
protection and immunity as a Supreme Court judge has in the 15
performance of a judge's functions. 16
(6) The principal registrar has, in the performance of the 17
following functions, the same protection and immunity as a 18
Supreme Court judge has in the performance of a judge's 19
functions-- 20
(a) a function of the tribunal permitted to be performed by 21
the principal registrar by this Act or an enabling Act that 22
is an Act; 23
(b) a function under chapter 2, part 6, division 2. 24
(7) A person representing a party in a proceeding has the same 25
protection and immunity as a legal practitioner appearing for a 26
party in a proceeding before the Supreme Court. 27
(8) A party to a proceeding has the same protection and immunity 28
as a party to a proceeding before the Supreme Court. 29
(9) A person appearing before the tribunal as a witness has the 30
same protection and immunity as a witness in a proceeding 31
before the Supreme Court. 32
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[s 238]
(10) A document produced at, or used for, a hearing before the 1
tribunal has the same protection as a document produced at, or 2
used for, a hearing before the Supreme Court. 3
(11) In this section-- 4
principal registrar includes a registrar performing functions 5
of the principal registrar under section 211(1). 6
238 Protection from civil liability 7
(1) An official is not civilly liable for an act done, or omission 8
made, honestly and without negligence under this Act or an 9
enabling Act. 10
(2) If subsection (1) prevents civil liability attaching to an official, 11
the liability attaches instead to the State. 12
(3) This section is subject to section 237 to the extent it relates to 13
the civil liability of the principal registrar or a registrar. 14
(4) In this section-- 15
official means-- 16
(a) the chief executive; or 17
(b) the principal registrar, a registrar or a registry staff 18
member; or 19
(c) a person acting under the authority or direction of the 20
tribunal or chief executive. 21
Division 5 Other provisions 22
239 Contracting out prohibited 23
(1) A contract or agreement is void to the extent to which it-- 24
(a) is contrary to this Act; or 25
(b) purports to annul, exclude, restrict or otherwise change 26
the effect of a provision of this Act. 27
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[s 240]
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an agreement that a dispute 1
be referred to arbitration if the agreement is entered into after 2
the dispute arises. 3
(3) Nothing in this section prevents the parties to a contract or 4
agreement from including in the contract or agreement 5
provisions that impose greater or more onerous obligations on 6
an entity than are imposed under this Act. 7
(4) This section applies to contracts or agreements entered into 8
before or after the commencement of this Act. 9
240 Review of Act 10
(1) The Minister must review this Act-- 11
(a) within 3 years after the commencement of this section; 12
and 13
(b) at further intervals of 5 years. 14
(2) The objects of the review include-- 15
(a) deciding whether the objects of this Act remain valid; 16
and 17
(b) deciding whether this Act is meeting its objects; and 18
(c) deciding whether the provisions of this Act are 19
appropriate for meeting its objects; and 20
(d) investigating any specific issue recommended by the 21
Minister or the president, including, for example, 22
whether any provision of an enabling Act affects the 23
effective operation of the tribunal. 24
(3) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after finishing a 25
review under subsection (1), table a report about the outcome 26
of the review in the Legislative Assembly. 27
241 Approved forms 28
The rules committee may approve forms for use under this 29
Act. 30
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Chapter 6 Repeal provision
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 242]
242 Regulation-making power 1
(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 2
Act. 3
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a regulation made under this 4
Act may-- 5
(a) prescribe fees payable under this Act; or 6
(b) provide for the form of an oath and how it is to be 7
administered. 8
Chapter 6 Repeal provision 9
243 Repeals 10
The following Acts are repealed-- 11
· the Children Services Tribunal Act 2000, No. 59 12
· the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Act 2003, No. 13
30 14
· the Misconduct Tribunals Act 1997, No. 59 15
· the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1973, No. 23. 16
Chapter 7 Transitional provisions 17
Part 1 Preliminary 18
244 Definitions for ch 7 19
In this chapter-- 20
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commencement means the commencement of this section. 1
continuing entity means-- 2
(a) a court; or 3
(b) a Minister administering an enabling Act; or 4
(c) the Queensland Gaming Commission under the Gaming 5
Machine Act 1991. 6
decision, of a former tribunal or court, includes an order made 7
or direction given by the former tribunal or court. 8
decision, of QCAT, does not include a decision made in an 9
appeal under chapter 2, part 8. 10
Note-- 11
See also schedule 3, definition decision in relation to the tribunal. 12
enabling Act means an Act or subordinate legislation that is 13
an enabling Act at the commencement. 14
existing court proceeding means a proceeding that-- 15
(a) was started in a court under a former Act before the 16
commencement; and 17
(b) at the commencement, has not been withdrawn, or 18
dismissed, struck out or otherwise disposed of by the 19
court; and 20
(c) relates to a QCAT matter. 21
existing proceeding means-- 22
(a) an existing court proceeding; or 23
(b) an existing tribunal proceeding. 24
existing tribunal proceeding means a proceeding that-- 25
(a) was started before a former tribunal under a former Act 26
before the commencement; and 27
(b) at the commencement, has not been withdrawn, 28
dismissed, struck out or otherwise disposed of under the 29
former Act. 30
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final decision, of a former tribunal or a court in a proceeding, 1
means the former tribunal's or court's decision that finally 2
decides the matters the subject of the proceeding. 3
Note-- 4
final decision, of the tribunal in a proceeding, is defined in schedule 3. 5
former Act means any of the following Acts, as in force 6
before the commencement-- 7
(a) the repealed Children Services Tribunal Act 2000; 8
(b) the repealed Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Act 9
2003; 10
(c) the repealed Misconduct Tribunals Act 1997; 11
(d) the repealed Small Claims Tribunals Act 1973; 12
(e) an enabling Act. 13
former entity, for part 4, see section 270. 14
former tribunal means an entity mentioned in schedule 1. 15
member, of a former tribunal, includes a person who under a 16
former Act may constitute the former tribunal for matters, 17
even though the person is not called a member. 18
Example-- 19
a referee under the repealed Small Claims Tribunals Act 1973 20
pending proceeding see section 245. 21
proceeding includes-- 22
(a) an action before a former tribunal or continuing entity 23
without an application or referral being made; and 24
(b) a process under a former Act for the consideration of a 25
matter, including, for example, a review of a decision, 26
by a former tribunal or continuing entity. 27
QCAT means the tribunal. 28
QCAT Amendment Act means the Queensland Civil and 29
Administrative Tribunal (Jurisdiction Provisions) Amendment 30
Act 2009. 31
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[s 245]
QCAT matter means a matter for which this Act or an 1
enabling Act confers jurisdiction on QCAT at the 2
commencement. 3
245 What is a pending proceeding 4
An existing proceeding in a court or former tribunal is a 5
pending proceeding if, at the commencement, the court or 6
former tribunal-- 7
(a) has not started to hear a matter the subject of the 8
proceeding; or 9
(b) has started to hear a matter the subject of the proceeding 10
but has not started to consider evidence for the purpose 11
of making its final decision in the proceeding. 12
246 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, s 20 not limited 13
Subject to sections 255(7) and 267(7), this chapter does not 14
limit the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 20. 15
Part 2 Transitional provisions about 16
former tribunals 17
Division 1 Abolition and related matters 18
247 Abolition of former tribunals 19
(1) At the commencement-- 20
(a) each former tribunal is abolished; and 21
(b) the members of the former tribunal stop being members 22
of the former tribunal. 23
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Note-- 1
Particular members of particular former tribunals become ordinary 2
members of QCAT under section 263 for 2 years. 3
(2) Subsection (1) does not affect the member's appointment in 4
any other office. 5
248 QCAT is legal successor 6
(1) QCAT is the successor in law of each former tribunal. 7
(2) Subsection (1) is not limited by another provision of this 8
division. 9
249 Assets and liabilities etc. of a former tribunal 10
(1) At the commencement-- 11
(a) the assets and liabilities of a former tribunal 12
immediately before the commencement become assets 13
and liabilities of QCAT; and 14
(b) any contracts, undertakings or other arrangements to 15
which a former tribunal is a party, in force immediately 16
before the commencement-- 17
(i) are taken to have been entered into by QCAT; and 18
(ii) may be enforced against or by QCAT; and 19
(c) any property that, immediately before the 20
commencement, was held on trust or subject to a 21
condition, by a former tribunal continues to be held on 22
the same trust, or subject to the same condition, by 23
QCAT. 24
(2) The registrar of titles or other person responsible for keeping a 25
register for dealings in property must, if asked by QCAT, 26
record the vesting of property under this section in QCAT. 27
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[s 250]
250 Proceeding not yet started by or against a former tribunal 1
(1) This section applies if, immediately before the 2
commencement, a proceeding could have been started by or 3
against a former tribunal within a particular period (the 4
prescribed period). 5
(2) The proceeding may be started by or against QCAT within the 6
prescribed period. 7
(3) In this section-- 8
proceeding includes a proceeding under section 264. 9
251 Proceeding to which a former tribunal was a party 10
(1) This section applies to a proceeding that, immediately before 11
the commencement, had not ended and to which a former 12
tribunal was a party. 13
(2) At the commencement, QCAT becomes a party to the 14
proceeding in place of the former tribunal. 15
(3) In this section-- 16
proceeding includes a proceeding under section 264. 17
252 Existing final decisions of a former tribunal 18
(1) A final decision of a former tribunal in a proceeding made 19
before the commencement-- 20
(a) is taken to be a final decision of QCAT; and 21
(b) this Act, and any relevant enabling Act, applies to the 22
decision as if it were a final decision of QCAT. 23
Note-- 24
Section 271 provides for decisions of former tribunals made in relation 25
to a matter that has not been heard and decided at the commencement. 26
(2) However, subsection (1)(b) does not authorise QCAT to deal 27
with a final decision of the former tribunal in a way that is 28
inconsistent with the former Act under which the decision was 29
made. 30
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(3) If, under a former Act, a person has applied to a former 1
tribunal to deal with a final decision of the former tribunal and 2
the application has not been heard at the commencement-- 3
(a) the application is taken to be an application made to 4
QCAT under this Act; and 5
(b) in hearing the application, QCAT has, and only has, the 6
functions of the former tribunal under the former Act. 7
(4) Without limiting subsection (1), (2) or (3), a reference in an 8
Act to a final decision of QCAT is taken to include a reference 9
to a final decision of a former tribunal taken to be a final 10
decision of QCAT under subsection (1). 11
(5) In this section-- 12
deal with, a final decision, includes-- 13
(a) amend or correct the decision; and 14
(b) revoke the decision. 15
253 Records of former tribunals 16
All records of a former tribunal are records of QCAT under 17
this Act. 18
254 References to former tribunals etc. 19
(1) In an Act or document-- 20
(a) a reference to a former tribunal is taken, if the context 21
permits, to be a reference to QCAT; and 22
(b) a reference to a former president is taken, if the context 23
permits, to be a reference to the president; and 24
(c) a reference to a former member is taken, if the context 25
permits, to be a reference to a member of QCAT; and 26
(d) a reference to a former registrar is taken, if the context 27
permits, to be a reference to the principal registrar; and 28
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[s 255]
(e) a reference to a former registry is taken, if the context 1
permits, to be a reference to the registry; and 2
(f) a reference to a referee under the repealed Small Claims 3
Tribunals Act 1973 is taken, if the context permits, to be 4
a reference to QCAT as constituted under this Act. 5
(2) In this section-- 6
former member means a member of a former tribunal under a 7
former Act. 8
former president means a former member who has functions 9
similar to the president's functions under this Act, whether the 10
person's office is called president, chairperson, senior member 11
or something else. 12
former registrar means a person appointed under a former 13
Act to carry out functions similar to the principal registrar or a 14
registrar under this Act, whether the person's office is called 15
registrar, director or something else. 16
former registry means a registry for a former tribunal under a 17
former Act. 18
Division 2 Proceeding not yet started before 19
former tribunal 20
255 QCAT may deal with proceeding 21
(1) This section applies if-- 22
(a) immediately before the commencement, a person could 23
have started a proceeding for a matter before a former 24
tribunal within a particular period (the prescribed 25
period); and 26
(b) at the commencement, the person has not started the 27
proceeding. 28
(2) QCAT has jurisdiction to deal with the matter under this Act. 29
(3) A proceeding for the matter may be started under this Act-- 30
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[s 256]
(a) within the prescribed period; and 1
(b) in the way the proceeding could be started if the matter 2
had arisen after the commencement. 3
(4) If a proceeding for the matter is started under this Act, QCAT 4
must deal with the matter under this Act and has, and only 5
has, functions under this Act or an enabling Act in relation to 6
the matter. 7
(5) If the matter is an appeal against a decision that could have 8
been started as mentioned in subsection (1)(a), the decision 9
that could have been appealed against is a reviewable decision 10
for applying this Act to the proceeding under subsection (3) 11
and (4). 12
(6) This section does not apply to an examination under the Small 13
Claims Tribunals Act 1973, section 23A. 14
(7) Subsections (4) and (6) apply despite the Acts Interpretation 15
Act 1954, section 20. 16
Division 3 Proceeding started before former 17
tribunal 18
256 Pending proceeding 19
(1) This section applies to an existing tribunal proceeding that is a 20
pending proceeding. 21
(2) At the commencement, the proceeding is taken to be a 22
proceeding before QCAT. 23
(3) QCAT has jurisdiction to deal with the matter the subject of 24
the proceeding under this Act. 25
Note-- 26
See part 4 for how QCAT is to conduct the proceeding. 27
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[s 257]
257 Other proceeding 1
(1) This section applies to an existing tribunal proceeding that is 2
not a pending proceeding. 3
(2) At the commencement, the proceeding is taken to be a 4
proceeding before QCAT. 5
(3) QCAT has jurisdiction to deal with the matter the subject of 6
the proceeding under this Act. 7
(4) QCAT must be constituted by the persons who constituted the 8
former tribunal immediately before the commencement and, 9
for that purpose, any of the persons who are not members of 10
QCAT (or have not become members under section 263) are 11
taken to be members of QCAT for the duration of the 12
proceeding. 13
(5) A person taken to be a member of QCAT under subsection (4) 14
is entitled to be paid the remuneration and allowances the 15
person was entitled to under the former Act under which the 16
former tribunal was constituted for the duration of the 17
proceeding. 18
(6) If, for any reason, a person who constituted the former 19
tribunal is unable to perform functions in the proceeding, the 20
president must reconstitute QCAT by replacing the person 21
with another member. 22
Example of when a person may be unable to perform functions in the 23
proceeding-- 24
if the person is ill or otherwise becomes unavailable 25
(7) Chapter 2, part 8 does not apply to a decision of QCAT in the 26
proceeding, including a decision of the former tribunal taken 27
to be a decision of QCAT in the proceeding under section 28
271(4). 29
(8) However, a person may appeal to a court against the decision 30
if, under the former Act, the person could have appealed to the 31
court against the decision if it had been made by the former 32
tribunal. 33
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(9) An appeal under subsection (8) must be made within the 1
period and in the way the appeal was required to be made 2
under the former Act. 3
Division 4 Appeal against decision of a former 4
tribunal 5
258 Appeal yet to be started 6
(1) This section applies if-- 7
(a) immediately before the commencement, a person could, 8
under a former Act, have appealed to a court against a 9
decision of a former tribunal within a particular period 10
(the appeal period); and 11
(b) at the commencement, the person has not started the 12
appeal. 13
(2) The person may, within the appeal period, appeal to the court 14
against the decision, and the court must hear and decide the 15
appeal, under the former Act as if it were still in force. 16
259 Appeal started 17
(1) This section applies if, before the commencement, a person 18
has, under a former Act, appealed to a court against a decision 19
of a former tribunal and the appeal has not been finally dealt 20
with at the commencement. 21
(2) The court must hear, or continue to hear, and decide the 22
appeal under the former Act as if it were still in force. 23
260 Effect of court's decision in appeal 24
(1) This section applies to an appeal to which section 258 or 259 25
applies. 26
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(2) The court's decision in the appeal must be dealt with in the 1
way the court's decision would have been dealt with under the 2
former Act if it were still in force. 3
(3) If the court's decision in the appeal is to remit the matter to the 4
former tribunal, with or without directions-- 5
(a) the court must remit the matter to QCAT; and 6
(b) QCAT must deal with the matter under the former Act 7
as if it were still in force. 8
(4) For subsection (3)-- 9
(a) QCAT has, and only has, the functions of the former 10
tribunal; and 11
(b) QCAT can, and can only, make a decision the former 12
tribunal could have made in relation to the matter under 13
the former Act. 14
(5) For subsections (2) to (4), the former Act, and other relevant 15
laws, continue to have effect as if they were still in force. 16
Division 5 Other matters 17
261 Particular request of former Children Services Tribunal 18
(1) Subsection (2) applies if-- 19
(a) the president under the repealed Children Services 20
Tribunal Act 2000 has made a request under section 128 21
of that Act; and 22
(b) the period for complying with the request has not passed 23
at the commencement. 24
(2) At the commencement, the request is taken to be a request 25
made by QCAT under the Child Protection Act 1999, section 26
99ZI and that Act applies in relation to the request as if it were 27
a request made by QCAT under that section. 28
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[s 262]
Editor's note-- 1
Child Protection Act 1999, section 99ZI (Requests to chief executive) 2
(3) Subsection (4) applies if-- 3
(a) the president under the repealed Children Services 4
Tribunal Act 2000 has received a response from the 5
chief executive of a government entity given under 6
section 128 of that Act; and 7
(b) at the commencement, the president has not dealt with 8
the response under that Act. 9
(4) QCAT may deal with the response under the Child Protection 10
Act 1999 as if the response had been given to a request made 11
by QCAT under section 99ZI of that Act in relation to a 12
decision of QCAT. 13
262 Annual reports for former tribunals 14
(1) As soon as practicable after the start of the financial year in 15
which commencement happens, but not later than the 16
following 30 September, the president must give the Minister 17
the following-- 18
(a) a report for the former Children Services Tribunal 19
containing the matters mentioned in the repealed 20
Children Services Tribunal Act 2000, section 146(2) as 21
in force immediately before the commencement; 22
(b) a report for the former Consumer and Commercial 23
Tribunal containing the matters mentioned in the 24
repealed Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Act 2003, 25
section 145(1) as in force immediately before the 26
commencement; 27
(c) a report for the former Guardianship and Administration 28
Tribunal containing the matters mentioned in the 29
Guardianship and Administration Act 2000, section 30
98(1) as in force immediately before the 31
commencement; 32
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(d) a report for a former misconduct tribunal containing the 1
matters mentioned in the repealed Misconduct Tribunals 2
Act 1997, section 39(1) as in force immediately before 3
the commencement; 4
(e) a report for the former Racing Appeals Tribunal 5
containing the matters mentioned in the Racing Act 6
2002, section 192(1) as in force immediately before the 7
commencement. 8
(2) The Minister must table a copy of each report in the 9
Legislative Assembly within 14 sitting days after receiving 10
the report. 11
263 Transferring membership of particular members 12
(1) At the commencement, each person who, immediately before 13
the commencement, was a sessional member becomes an 14
ordinary member of QCAT. 15
(2) Subsection (1) applies only if the person consents to 16
becoming an ordinary member of QCAT by giving written 17
notice of the consent to the Minister. 18
(3) The person holds the appointment as an ordinary member-- 19
(a) for 2 years after the commencement; and 20
(b) subject to this Act and the conditions decided by the 21
Governor in Council. 22
(4) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after the 23
commencement, give the person a written notice stating the 24
conditions decided by the Governor in Council. 25
(5) In this section-- 26
former tribunal does not include the following-- 27
(a) an appeal tribunal formed under the Local Government 28
Act 1993, section 942, as in force before the 29
commencement; 30
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[s 264]
(b) the Health Practitioners Tribunal established under the 1
Health Practitioners (Professional Standards) Act 1999, 2
section 26, as in force before the commencement; 3
(c) the Legal Practice Tribunal continued in existence under 4
the Legal Profession Act 2007, section 599, as in force 5
before the commencement; 6
(d) the Nursing Tribunal as continued under the Nursing Act 7
1992, section 84, as in force before the commencement; 8
(e) a small claims tribunal constituted under the repealed 9
Small Claims Tribunals Act 1973, section 11; 10
(f) a surveyors disciplinary committee established under 11
the Surveyors Act 2003, section 94, as in force before 12
the commencement; 13
(g) a committee appointed under the Valuers Registration 14
Act 1992, section 50, as in force before the 15
commencement. 16
sessional member means-- 17
(a) a member of a former tribunal other than a member 18
appointed as a member on a full-time basis; or 19
(b) the independent assessor under the Prostitution Act 20
1999, as in force before the commencement. 21
264 Particular offences continue 22
(1) This section applies if-- 23
(a) under a provision of an Act, as in force before the 24
commencement (relevant Act), a person who did or 25
omitted to do an act in relation to a former tribunal, or 26
something required to be done, or done, by a former 27
tribunal, committed an offence; and 28
(b) the provision is-- 29
(i) amended by the QCAT Amendment Act so that it 30
no longer applies in relation to the former tribunal, 31
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[s 265]
or something required to be done, or done, by the 1
former tribunal; or 2
(ii) repealed by this Act or the QCAT Amendment Act. 3
(2) A proceeding for the offence may be continued or started, and 4
the provisions of the relevant Act that are necessary or 5
convenient to be used in relation to the proceeding continue to 6
apply, as if the QCAT Amendment Act and this Act had not 7
commenced. 8
(3) For subsection (2), the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 9
20 applies, but does not limit the subsection. 10
(4) Subsection (2) applies despite the Criminal Code, section 11. 11
265 Confidentiality 12
(1) Each confidentiality provision continues to apply, and a 13
contravention of a confidentiality provision may be 14
prosecuted, despite the repeal of the provision by this Act. 15
(2) Subsection (1) applies to a contravention of a confidentiality 16
provision whether it happened before or after the 17
commencement. 18
(3) In this section-- 19
confidentiality provision means-- 20
(a) the repealed Children Services Tribunal Act 2000, 21
section 76(7), 88 or 142, as in force before the 22
commencement; or 23
(b) the repealed Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Act 24
2003, section 120, as in force before the 25
commencement; or 26
(c) the repealed Misconduct Tribunals Act 1997, section 44, 27
as in force before the commencement. 28
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[s 266]
266 Particular penalties payable to particular entities 1
The repealed Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Act 2003, 2
section 148, as in force before the commencement, continues 3
to have effect in relation to penalties to which the section 4
applied that are recovered after the commencement as if that 5
Act had not been repealed. 6
Part 3 Transitional provisions about 7
continuing entities 8
267 Proceeding not yet started 9
(1) This section applies if-- 10
(a) immediately before the commencement, a person could, 11
under an enabling Act or another Act as in force before 12
the commencement, have started a proceeding before a 13
continuing entity for a QCAT matter within a particular 14
period (the prescribed period); and 15
(b) at the commencement, the person has not started the 16
proceeding. 17
(2) QCAT has jurisdiction to deal with the matter under this Act. 18
(3) A proceeding before the continuing entity for the matter can 19
not be started after the commencement unless, under an 20
enabling Act or another Act, the continuing entity has 21
jurisdiction to deal with the matter after the commencement. 22
(4) However, a proceeding for the matter may be started before 23
QCAT under this Act-- 24
(a) within the prescribed period; and 25
(b) in the way the proceeding could be started if the matter 26
arose after the commencement. 27
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(5) If a proceeding for the matter is started before QCAT, QCAT 1
must deal with the matter under this Act and has, and only 2
has, functions under this Act or an enabling Act in relation to 3
the matter. 4
(6) If the matter is an appeal against a decision that could have 5
been started as mentioned in subsection (1)(a), the decision 6
that could have been appealed against is a reviewable decision 7
for applying this Act to the proceeding under subsection (4) 8
and (5). 9
(7) This section applies despite the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, 10
section 20. 11
268 Proceeding started 12
(1) This section applies if, before the commencement, a person 13
has, under an enabling Act or another Act as in force before 14
the commencement (the former Act), started a proceeding 15
before a continuing entity for a QCAT matter. 16
(2) The continuing entity must hear, or continue to hear, and 17
decide the matter under the former Act, and the former Act 18
and other relevant laws apply as if the QCAT Amendment Act 19
had not been enacted. 20
(3) The continuing entity's decision in the proceeding has effect, 21
or must be given effect, in the way the continuing entity's 22
decision would have had effect, or been given effect, under the 23
former Act if the QCAT Amendment Act had not been 24
enacted. 25
(4) However, for a proceeding before a court, if the proceeding is 26
a pending proceeding and the court decides it would be 27
practicable for QCAT to hear and decide the matter, the court 28
may, by order, transfer the proceeding to QCAT. 29
(5) If a court transfers the proceeding to QCAT under subsection 30
(4)(a)-- 31
(a) the proceeding is taken to have been started before 32
QCAT; and 33
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[s 269]
(b) the court may make the orders and give the directions it 1
considers appropriate to facilitate the transfer, including 2
an order that a party is taken to have complied with the 3
requirements under this Act, an enabling Act or the rules 4
for starting a proceeding before QCAT. 5
Note-- 6
See part 4 for how QCAT is to conduct the proceeding. 7
(6) An order under subsection (5)(b) has effect despite any 8
provision of this Act, an enabling Act or the rules. 9
(7) Subject to subsection (8), the continuing entity's final decision 10
in the proceeding has effect under this Act, and any relevant 11
enabling Act, as if it were a final decision of QCAT. 12
(8) Chapter 2, part 8 doe