D'Arro v Queensland Building and Construction Commission

The applicant, D’Arro, was declared bankrupt and liquidators were appointed to the applicant’s companies. The respondent deemed the applicant an excluded individual under the Building and Construction Commission Act. The applicant sought to be categorised as a permitted individual but the respondent refused. The applicant applied for a review of the respondent’s decision, which was subsequently refused. The applicant appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted leave to appeal. The appeal concerned whether the legislation applied retrospectively, a question that arose because amendments were made to the relevant Act after the applicant’s application for review but before the Tribunal made its decision.

The court considered whether the Professional Engineers and Other Legislation Amendment Act applied retrospectively to the applicant’s situation. The court noted that the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Appeal Tribunal had declined to consider the effect of the legislative changes, instead applying the law as it stood at the time of the decision under review. The court held that the Tribunal should have reconsidered the application in light of the amended legislation. The court found that the Tribunal’s failure to do so was a jurisdictional error.

The court allowed the appeal and set aside the Tribunal’s decision, ordering that the Tribunal reconsider the applicant’s applications for review in light of the amended legislation. The court granted leave to appeal with costs and ordered that the appeal costs be paid by the respondent. The court also ordered that the matter be returned to the Tribunal for reconsideration by a member of the Tribunal according to law.