Commissioner of Superannuation v Hastings, R.J

(Se t t lement a n d

cn r ry

Ord*.t-s

deal t_ 7 ~ 1 t h

I n

1 0 . 3 6 ~f

t he

n u l e s of

C G l l r t . )

* Not conslderd appropriate for

further distrlbutlon.

Respondent

There

before

the

Cour t

a motlon un41er s.44A

,xf

the

Adminis t ra t ive

dppeals Tr ibuna l

Act

1975

f o r

s n

order

t h a t

u n t i l

t h e

h s a r l n g

a n d

d e t e r m i n a t l o n

t he

appea l ,

o r

f u r t h e r order,

t h?

dec l s lon

the

Admlnls t ra t ive

Appeals

Tr ibunal

q lven

a t Adelaide m 7 Apr i l 19a6 not

opera

implemented

insofar

i t

r e q u l r e s

t h e

payment

t h e

a p p l i c a n t ,

t h e

Cornmissloner

f o r

Supermnuat lon .

t o

the

respondent of

arrears csf

l n v a l r d l t y

d u s In

r e spec t

t h e

period

p r i o r t o

&.pc11

1386;.

If the Commisaimer makes a direction under

t h a t

s u b - s e c t i o n , the respondent

1 s e n t i t l e d tn a penslon.

does

n o t

make

that

d l r e c t l a r . ,

the

respondent ,

a l l

probability,

1s n o t

e n t i t l e d

t o

that pens ion , and t h e

issue

"(a) a f f i r m l n g t h e d e c i s i o n

undi?r

revlew;

(b) vary lng the decis ion under

review;

( c )

s e t t i n g a s i d e t h e d e c i s i o n u n d e r

revlew

and

( 1 )

maklng a

d e c l s l o n

I n

s u h a t l t u t l c n

for

t h e d e c i s l o n

s o

set

a s i d e ;

)

r e m i t t i n g

t h e

matter

f 18 c

cecons ldera t lon

1:;

scco -danre

w i th

any directions ,at- retcommendat:ltns of

the Tribunal. "

Dlfflculties a t - 1 ~ ~

from the f o r v cf that o r d e r

but

I do not need to e labora te upon that at the present time. It is sufficient to say that the appllcant, the Commissioner for Supersnnuation, is treating that decislon a s a declsion directmg the payment of a penslon to the reapc.ndent pursuant to the prov-sions of the Superannuation A c r .

In the .zoucse of preparlnq to comply w l t h that

order, zalculatirns

s e i e made x:himrh,

,on one view, the 7~1e-z ef

the applicant, rhows that by :;a:;

?F entltieaent nf art-sacs

and after making Sllowances fsyt- ,:~ntra entt-lez,

the

respondent ' S entitlsment at E; JCI::? 1'32C,

s:a+ .;F5,6,74. 52.

The

respondent's calculations show

that 5

l a r g e r amount than that

is owing. The appllcant 1s currently paylng the fortnight17 payments of pension under the Superannuation Act, an amount of $592.06, and has pald those amounts as from 7 Apt-11 1'335.

Those payments wlll be continued lnto the future but what

1 s

bemg sought

the stay motlon 1s that the amount of

$55,674.52 be not pald until the hear inq and determ:natlan

the appeal on the hasls that

If lt 1s p a l d it may well

dissipated and. t h e ap?llm:ant

may well be In a posltlon of not

" ( 2 ) khu're

ar,

a p p e a l

i z lnstltL:te.3

t h e

Federal

Court

Australia

from a dec l s ion of

the

Tribu:ial ,

th3t

Court

a J ~ d g e

o f

t h a t

,:aurt

may

make suzh or-der #or .ardet-s

stayiny

a- cstherslise

a f f?c t lng

the sopera t lon

implementation

,xf

e l t h e r

o r bo th c7f

the fo l lowlng:

( a ) the d e c i s i o n of

the Triblunal s r a part

,>f

t ha t

dec i s ion ;

and

(b) t h e

d e c l s i s n

xhhlch

the

prcnzeeding

b e f o r e

r h e

T r i b u n a l

r e l z t e d

o r a

par t

that decision,

that

C.rur t

o r Judge

cons ide r s

app ropr i a t e

for

the

purpose

of secu r ing

t he

effectiveness

t h e

hearlng and

determination of

the appea l .

In the present case, the Court is empowered ta make such order as to a stay for the purpose of securlng the

effectiveness of the hearing and determination

of the appeal.

In my oplnlon, if there is evidence supporting the vlew

that

if the appeal is

successful, the successful appllcant

would

not be in a positlon to recover

the money pald to the

respondent,

the

Court

should,

tke exerclse of Its

dlscretion, grant an order staylng

the

operation of the

declslon undsr appea l or part of that decislon.

This depends

also on the questlon

nf whether the h u r t is satlsfled

tklat

the appeal is not merely a sham.

7 -

I n t h ~

prs sen t case, Z dm satisfied cha t

t he r?

se r ious

ques t lon

to be t r l e d

on the ~ p p e a l

as tn the pr,-ppr

constructlcl-. of

s u b - s e c t l o n

7! Z ! cf

the Superannuation

>.,:t

and

t he re fo re

t he

apFeal IS not a sham.

I am zjat1;fie.d a l sa ,

having

regard

t h e f a c t

h a t

h e

app11cant 15 p'r71ng

t h s

f o r t n l g h t l y

p e n s l o n

sumz

~rut-renbly due

t.o

t h reapncdent

and

;7111 c s n t i n u e to

mab:e

those

payment:

and that

the

qtay

sought o n l y In relaticmn

t u the sum #If $55,674.5:,

5 .21n~

tt,r

a r r e a r s , a

question

balanclntq,

as 5 mat ter .zf

c ~ n v e n i e n s e ,

t'ne

r i g h t s o f

t h e p r t i e s ,

i s appropr l a t e .

1 a m s a t i s f l e d

the material

b e f a r e

the C o u r t ,

t h a t

I f

t h a t

money

1 s

pa1.1

o v e r ,

t h e r e

i s

real p o s s i b i l l t y

that

t h e

a p p l i c a n t

c;auld

n o t be able to recover i t from

the

respondsnt

If ?he

a p p l i c a n t

succeeds

I t s

appea l .

I n

s 3 y i n g

t h a t ,

a m

conscious of

t h e f a c t

t h a t , zven l f

t he

appea l

succeeds ,

i t

may be necessary

f o r

t h e

matter t o

r e f e r r ed

back

t o

t he

T r i b u n a l

f o r

f u r t h e r

c o n s i d e r a t l o n

3nd

t h e Trlbunal

may,

proper

mater ia l ,

come

t o

t h e

c s n c l u s i o n

that the

respondent

i s

e n t i t l e d

t o

t h e pension

and always waz

e n t i t l e d to

the

pcns ion ,

i n

xd-tich

c i rcumstances

appropr ia te

o rders

could

mzde, but that w ~ u l d depend	upon	f k t u r e	o r d e r s ,	n o t	on	past
orders.

t he

I f

3 F p l l c X I t

does

succeed,

even

I n

those

circumstances,

i t

would be e n t i t l e d

t o recover

the

sum

money

pald

Immediately,

and

t h e r e

r e a l

p r o b l e m s

assoczated w l t h t h e

recovering

I t , t h e r e f o r e

disposed

t o grant t h e order sought .

As oppnsed to

t ha t ,

unde r

no rma l

c l rcumztances,

i n a

case of

t h i s

k i n d , where t h e

a p p l i c 3 n t

!-l15

thc

f,.~-,ds 11

r r l . lz t , ~2!:.1r:tllj-,

ind

t'r,? t-ezpt>r!ient

he11-r~

deprlv+d af

:,b:snej.z

w h ~ z h ,

on one view, w:;izh h+ might

be e n t l t l d

t o ,

an:;

~c rds r

~ ~ u l d

yn tl;a

! x s l j t h a t

the

a p p l i c a n t

would

neeil

t o pay

some

I n t e r e s t on

the moneys whlc1-r

are stayed

and

xhich

wquld be pa id

i f

the

respondent

were

t o

succeed on the

appea l .

a m in formed

tha t

there

are problems

Involved as far as the

app l i c2Et

1 s concerned

i n coming

t o

any

agreement

2 s

t o

t h a t b u t , n e v e r t h e l e s s ,

i t

seem=

t h a t

a n y

s t a y order 'can be made

t h e basls of

a eond l t lon that

the

a p p l i c a n t

p a y

t h a t

money

Into

Court

pendlng

t?,e

hsar ing

and

de termina t ion

t h s

a p p e a l

ant1 he paid

out

a t the

dit-ect:an

of thz Court vhimc1-r heat-s

and

etek-m<n?=

the

appeal and

t h a t

order

could

involve

arid

inc ludc 112

L t the

payment of

any

i n t e r e s t whtrlch has

been recelved 111

r e l a t i z n

t a that money

p a i d

i n t a

C o u r t .

The

a p s l l z m t then has

I c h a l c e of

e i the t -

paying th-e money

t o

t h e

r e s p o n d e n t

a n d

t a k i n g

t h e

r i s k

recover ing

i t o r not

re-zoverinq

i t if i t suczeeds , o r

paying

t h e money	Into Court	pucEuant	t o	t h e	o r d e r	I	a m about	tc ,
make.

The

second

n a t t e r

r e l 3 t e c

t o

whether , ,*S

a l t e r n a t l v e , tlhe

amol.:nt

t o be

patd

into a

zp*cla:

t t - I u S t

account ta be in- - - - , , e3 ted in

appropriate

Inves tments to

a:.m.lt

t h e outcome

c,€

t h e order

the

Court

but

that,

i n

t h e

meantime,

the

respondent

k v e

ths b e n e f l t

t h e

i n t e r e s t

payments on th3t investment.

I n my

opin ion , that i s a cYur:e

whlch

the

Court

should

not

adopt

hls

case.

The

Court

shou ld

r e t a in

con t ro l

moneys

d l r e c t l n g them

t o be

p a i d

Into Court

and not

into

t r u s t a c c o u n t

and, in

any event ,

t he

app l i can t

wet-2

t o

s u c c e e d ,

i t

may

we l l

have

t roub le

recovering

those

payments

i n t e r e s t from

the

rexpondent

and,

I n the

c i rcumstances ,

I n a p p r o p r i a t e

t o

p l a c e

t h e

a p p l i c m t a t

r i s k ,

i t w e r e ,

F a r t i c u l a r l y

=hen

one

has

regard t o

t h e

f a c t

that

the

a p p l i c a n t

has

o b l l g a t i u n s

t o

n the r persons

who

p a r t i c i p a t e

the

superannuat inn

fund

apart from

the

resrjendent.

Flns:l;r,

the

qlie6tlon

c o s t s , ~t has

been

urged upon

tha t ,

i n

r e a l i t y ,

lrdulgsnce

belng

g ran ted

t o

t he

app l i can t

and

that

the respondent

should

e n t i t l e d

t o

h t s

c o s t s of

th l s

motlnn.

A g a i n ,

t h i s

depends

upon the

ventual

outcome

of t h e proceedlngs.

If the

appea l

succeeds,

one

would

expect

that

the

respondent

should

pay t h e

c o s t s

t h e

appeal,

inc l lud ing

the

cos ts

the

mntion;

the 3ppeal fallr, t he

app l i can t

shou ld

pay

t h o s e

c o s t s .

Accordingly, the Court ~ l l l

grant in part

t h e order

5 G L l g h t :

1. Upon the Conmlssloner for

Superannuation

paying intn CrcLrt srlthin ze;rsn days the :um .:,f

$ 5 5 , € 7 4 . 5 2

awalt

the Jutcome of the hearing

and detsrmination of this appe31, the decizion of the Adminlatrative A;>peals Trlblunal given herein on 7 Aprli 1935 be stayed, insofar ac; it relates to arrears of pension to 7 April 1936, untll the hearlng and determination of the appeal or until further order.

2 .

It is ordered that the said d e r l s l o n ,

Insofar

as it relates to those	arrears,	be stayed
until 21 July 1986.

3 . Costs of the motion, costs in the cause.

It should be noted

that, subject t o any order

t k , p

Full Court mlght make, lt 1 s antlclpated that any order made dlrectlng the reflund or repayment nf the sum to the applicant

or the respondent, should Include an nrder that interesr: ,Jn

It be paid out also to the person so entitled.

I certify that this and the m e

(9) preceding pages are

a true copy

of the Reasons for Judgment hereln

of the

Honourable Mr. Justice Northrop.

r-.

~. p C..- -..-	c 4	cc\Lc-
'Y	\Assoclate
11 July 1986

[1986] FCA 321

7 Nov 1986