Board of Examiners under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) v Lawrence

In this case, the Board of Examiners under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) appealed a decision of the State Administrative Tribunal which had granted Quentin Derrick Lawrence a First Class Mine Manager’s Certificate by the Board of Examiners under reg 2.21 of the Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995 (WA) subject to the condition that the certificate be restricted to coal mines including underground and open cut coal mines. The Board of Examiners argued that the Tribunal had erred in not imposing conditions limiting the scope of the registration to open-cut coal mines only and in not making a declaration that the occupation of coal mine manager in South Australia was not equivalent to the occupation of underground coal mine manager in Western Australia. The central issue in this appeal was whether the Tribunal had erred in not imposing conditions on the respondent's registration that would limit his activities to open-cut coal mines only, and in not making a declaration that the occupation of coal mine manager in South Australia was not equivalent to the occupation of underground coal mine manager in Western Australia.

The Court considered whether the Tribunal had erred in not imposing conditions on the respondent's registration that would limit his activities to open-cut coal mines only. The Court noted that the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 (WA) provided that an occupation for which persons may be registered in the first State is taken to be equivalent to an occupation for which persons may be registered in the second State if the activities authorised to be carried out under each registration are substantially the same. However, the Court found that the Tribunal had not erred in not imposing such conditions, as the Tribunal was not satisfied that the activities involved in the occupations were not substantially the same, even with the imposition of conditions. The Court also found that the Tribunal had not erred in not making a declaration that the occupation of coal mine manager in South Australia was not equivalent to the occupation of underground coal mine manager in Western Australia, as the Tribunal was not satisfied that there was strong evidence before it that any activity or class of activity could reasonably be expected to expose persons in Western Australia to a real threat to their health or safety.

Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed, and the applicant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal. The Court found that the Tribunal had not erred in granting the respondent a First Class Mine Manager’s Certificate by the Board of Examiners under reg 2.21 of the Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995 (WA) subject to the condition that the certificate be restricted to coal mines including underground and open cut coal mines. The Court held that the Tribunal had not erred in not imposing conditions on the respondent's registration that would limit his activities to open-cut coal mines only, or in not making a declaration that the occupation of coal mine manager in South Australia was not equivalent to the occupation of underground coal mine manager in Western Australia.