Caruana v LJ Hooker Toowoomba

The appeal is by the Applicants against a decision of the Tribunal made in a minor civil dispute over the return of a rental bond. The dispute arose from whether the Applicants should have some of their bond withheld for cleaning and excess water use charges following their tenancy. The Tribunal hearing was conducted in the Magistrates Court in Toowoomba and the Applicants did not appear. The Magistrate made an order that the Applicants pay the Respondent’s costs. The Applicants then sought leave to appeal the decision, which was refused. The Applicants appealed that decision.

The legal issue before the court was whether the Applicants were entitled to have their appeal heard. The Applicants claimed that they had not appeared at the hearing because they had already received all of their bond back from the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA). They believed that this repayment signified that the dispute had been finalised and that they did not need to attend the hearing. The Applicants argued that the Tribunal should allow their appeal and grant leave to appeal. The Respondent argued that the Applicants had not provided a sufficient reason for not appearing at the hearing and that their appeal should be dismissed.

The court held that the application for leave to appeal was not properly before it and that it would be more appropriate for the matter to be referred back to the Tribunal for consideration under s 138 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009. The court held that the Tribunal should consider whether the proceeding should be re-opened as if it was an application for the proceeding to be re-opened. The court held that the Tribunal should consider the reasons for the application for leave to appeal and whether they may constitute a re-opening ground for the Applicants.

The court referred the application for leave to appeal back to the Tribunal to decide whether the proceeding should be re-opened. Notice of the referral was to be given to each party to the proceeding.