Bowman v TAC

Bowman sought an order directing the Registrar to accept an application for leave to appeal from a decision of the TAC. The application was brought under rule 64.43(5) of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2005. The dispute centred on whether the decision from which leave to appeal was sought was of a judicial or administrative nature. If the decision was administrative, the application for leave to appeal would be incompetent.

The court examined the nature of the decision to determine whether it was judicial or administrative. The court applied principles established in Bizuneh v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and Manolakis v District Registrar, South Australia District Registry, Federal Court of Australia. The court found that the decision was of an administrative nature and, therefore, the application for leave to appeal was incompetent. Consequently, the application was dismissed.

The court's reasoning was that if the decision was administrative, the proper course was to seek internal review under the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975, rather than an appeal to the Supreme Court. The court held that the decision sought to be appealed from was not a decision that could be reviewed by appeal to the Supreme Court, and therefore the application for leave to appeal was incompetent. The application was refused.