Bahonko v Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

In the matter of Bahonko v Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the applicant, Ms Bahonko, filed an application to the Federal Court out of time, seeking review of a decision by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to terminate her complaint against the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). The key issue before the court was whether Ms Bahonko's application, filed approximately 11 days late, could be accepted despite the statutory time limit of 28 days for such applications. The court needed to determine if there were any circumstances that would justify the late filing and whether there were grounds to grant leave under section 46PO of the HREOC Act.

The court held that Ms Bahonko's application was indeed out of time and did not fall within any of the exceptions provided by the HREOC Act. The court emphasised that the statutory time limit for filing an application for review is strict and cannot be extended unless specific conditions are met, which were not present in this case. Additionally, the court noted that Ms Bahonko had not provided any justifiable reason for the delay, nor had she shown that the late filing would not prejudice the respondents. The court also highlighted that the application and claim did not comply with the directive to limit submissions to specific legal arguments regarding her claims of religious and political discrimination.

Consequently, the court refused the application for leave to file the application and claim out of time. The court further ordered that Ms Bahonko pay the first respondent's costs, as the late filing was deemed unjustified and without merit. This decision underscores the importance of adhering to statutory time limits in legal proceedings and the necessity of strict compliance with court directives regarding the scope of submissions.