D'Arro v Queensland Building and Construction Commission

In the case of D'Arro v Queensland Building and Construction Commission, the applicant, Orazio Salvatore D’Arro, sought review of decisions made by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) regarding his status as an excluded or permitted individual under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld). The dispute centred on whether the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Tribunal) correctly interpreted and applied legislative amendments that came into effect on 10 November 2014 when assessing D’Arro's eligibility for categorisation as a permitted individual.

The primary legal issues before the court involved the retrospective application of legislative amendments and the Tribunal's consideration of D’Arro’s compliance with the requirements to avoid the relevant bankruptcy event. Specifically, the court needed to determine if the Tribunal properly accounted for the ameliorative effect of section 56AC(6) and whether it should have applied the legislative amendments retroactively. Additionally, the court examined whether the Tribunal correctly exercised its discretion under section 56AD when it decided that D’Arro had not taken all reasonable steps to avoid the bankruptcy event.

The court found that the Tribunal did not properly consider the ameliorative effect of section 56AC(6) and failed to apply the legislative amendments retroactively where appropriate. The court held that the Tribunal's decision to refuse to categorise D’Arro as a permitted individual was flawed because it did not take into account the legislative changes. Consequently, the appeal on the specified grounds was allowed, and the Tribunal's decision was set aside. The court ordered that the applications for review be returned to the Tribunal for reconsideration in light of the court's findings. The court also set specific timelines for the submission of additional evidence and related submissions in connection with the reconsideration process.