Bennett and Building Practitioners Board

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Bennett against a decision of the Building Practitioners Board (BPB) to refuse his application for registration as a Builder-Medium Rise and Low Rise and Construction Manager-Medium Rise and Low Rise. The dispute centred on whether Mr Bennett had provided accurate information regarding the dates of his experience on various projects, and whether he had acted with good character in his dealings with the BPB. The decision was made by Senior Member Egon Fice.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether the BPB's decision to refuse Mr Bennett's registration was the correct or preferable one, having regard to the evidence presented and relevant legal principles. This involved assessing whether Mr Bennett met the eligibility criteria for the licences, including the requirement of good character, and considering the weight to be given to any relevant government policy in the exercise of the Tribunal's statutory power.

The Tribunal considered the principle that while not bound by government policy, it must take lawful government policy into account when exercising statutory powers. The Tribunal cited *Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs v Gray* and *Drake v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs* to explain that policy is a relevant factor, but the Tribunal must make an independent assessment of the individual case rather than uncritically applying policy. In this instance, the Tribunal found that Mr Bennett's misstatement of dates was an honest confusion due to his busy workload, rather than an attempt to mislead the BPB. The Tribunal was satisfied that Mr Bennett had been a busy builder since 2010 and had completed a significant percentage of the work himself.

Having found that Mr Bennett satisfied the eligibility criteria for the licences and the good character requirement, the Tribunal set aside the BPB's decision to refuse registration. In substitution, the Tribunal determined that Mr Bennett should be granted registration in Victoria as a Builder and Construction Manager – Medium Rise and Low Rise.