Director-General, Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services v Lewis

The Director-General, Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services (the appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against orders made by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the appellant's proposal to vary the terms of a precinct liquor accord under the *Liquor Act 2007* (NSW). The Supreme Court had previously granted an injunction preventing the appellant from making the decision to vary the accord.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the obligation of procedural fairness required the respondent licensees to be provided with the source materials upon which a report, intended to inform the decision to vary the accord, was based. A related issue was whether *quia timet* relief, in the form of an injunction, was available to restrain an alleged breach of the obligation of procedural fairness.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the Supreme Court. The Court reasoned that the *Liquor Act 2007* did not mandate the disclosure of the source materials to the licensees. Furthermore, the Court held that *quia timet* relief was not available to restrain a breach of procedural fairness in this context, as the potential harm was not sufficiently established. The Court concluded that the Supreme Court had erred in granting the injunction.