Barnes and Australian Postal Corporation (Compensation)

The applicant, Barnes, brought a compensation claim against the Australian Postal Corporation. The matter came before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), presided over by Senior Member A Poljak. The applicant sought to issue summonses for three individuals, Mr Metcher, Mr John, and Mr Staunton, to give oral evidence.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the proposed witnesses were able to give evidence relevant to the determination of the substantive compensation issues in the proceeding. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider if the evidence sought from these individuals would genuinely assist in resolving the matters before it, or if it pertained to issues outside the narrow scope of the Tribunal's current consideration.

The Tribunal reasoned that it would be both unfair and contrary to the objectives outlined in section 2A of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) to compel a person to appear as a witness if their evidence was unlikely to assist in determining the issues before the Tribunal. Applying this principle, the Tribunal concluded that there was no real possibility that the evidence of the requested witnesses would assist in determining the substantive issues. Consequently, pursuant to section 40A(2) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth), the applicant's request to issue summonses to Mr Metcher, Mr John, and Mr Staunton was refused.