Commissioner of Superannuation v Hastings, R.J

[1986] FCA 321

(Se t t lement a n d cn r ry of Ord*.t-s 15 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 1s 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 of t he appea l , o r

f u r t h e r order, t h? dec l s lon of the Admlnls t ra t ive Appeals

Tr ibunal q lven a t Adelaide m 7 Apr i l 19a6 not opera te o r be

implemented insofar as i t r e q u l r e s t h e payment by 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 of t h e

period p r i o r t o 7 &.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. If he

does n o t make that d l r e c t l a r . , the respondent , in 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; or

( 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 ; or

ii ) 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 by the stay motlon 1s that the amount of

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

the appeal on the hasls that If lt 1s p a l d it may well he

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 ;n t h e

Federal Court of Australia from a dec l s ion of the

Tribu:ial , th3t Court or 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 or 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 to 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 of

that decision,

as 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 of 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, in 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? ~s a

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 to 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 19

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 af balanclntq, as 5 mat ter .zf c ~ n v e n i e n s e ,

of 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

an 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 a 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 m I t s appea l . I n s 3 y i n g t h a t , 1 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 be 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, an

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 be

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 of

money pald Immediately, and t h e r e a r e a l p r o b l e m s

assoczated w l t h t h e recovering of I t , t h e r e f o r e I am 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 15

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 be 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 . I 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 on 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 of 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 of

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 an

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 of the Court but that, i n t h e

meantime, the respondent k v e ths b e n e f l t of 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 in hls case. The Court

shou ld r e t a in con t ro l of moneys by d l r e c t l n g them t o be p a i d

Into Court and not into a t r u s t a c c o u n t and, in any event , If

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 of i n t e r e s t from the rexpondent

and, I n the c i rcumstances , It is 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 , as 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 in the superannuat inn fund

apart from the resrjendent.

Flns:l;r, un the qlie6tlon of c o s t s , ~t has been

urged upon me tha t , i n r e a l i t y , an lrdulgsnce 1: belng

g ran ted t o t he app l i can t and that the respondent should be

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 of t h e appeal, inc l lud ing the cos ts of the mntion; If

the 3ppeal fallr, t he app l i can t shou ld pay t h o s e c o s t s . In

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 k~ 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