Chief Executive Officer, Department for Child Protection v T [No 2]

In this case, the Chief Executive Officer of the Department for Child Protection brought an appeal against a decision of the State Administrative Tribunal, which had dismissed an application for the cancellation of a negative notice issued under the Working with Children (Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004 (WA). The applicant, T, had sought to have a negative notice cancelled on the basis that there were no grounds for it, as they had not been convicted of any offences and the other material relied upon was not relevant or appropriate. The primary issue before the court was whether the Tribunal had misdirected itself by failing to consider the application on its merits and by incorrectly applying the relevant statutory provisions.

The court considered whether the Tribunal had properly applied the law in assessing the application for cancellation of the negative notice. It examined whether the Tribunal had correctly interpreted the statutory criteria for issuing and cancelling a negative notice under the Act. The court held that the Tribunal had indeed misdirected itself by not considering the application on its merits and by applying an incorrect legal test in its assessment. The Tribunal had failed to properly weigh the relevant considerations and had placed undue emphasis on the non-conviction charges and other material, without adequately assessing their relevance and appropriateness.

The court found that the Tribunal had not provided sufficient reasons for its decision and had failed to consider the applicant's submissions on the merits of the application. The court held that the Tribunal's decision was therefore flawed and that the appeal should be allowed. The orders of the Tribunal were set aside, and the review proceedings were remitted to the Tribunal for reconsideration in accordance with the correct legal principles. The case highlights the importance of tribunals carefully considering applications on their merits and applying the correct legal tests when assessing the validity of negative notices under the Working with Children (Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004 (WA).