Druett v Director-General of Community Services

In *Druett v Director-General of Community Services*, Gaudron J, sitting in chambers, considered an application for leave to appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The applicant, Druett, sought to challenge the Director-General's decision to refuse to grant him a licence to operate a private nursing home. The dispute centred on whether the Director-General had acted reasonably and lawfully in refusing the licence.

The primary legal issue before Gaudron J was whether the Director-General had properly exercised their discretion under the relevant legislation when refusing the licence. This involved determining whether the Director-General had taken into account all relevant considerations and had not taken into account irrelevant considerations, and whether the decision was so unreasonable that it could not be supported by evidence.

Gaudron J's reasoning focused on the principles of administrative law, particularly the grounds for judicial review of administrative decisions. Her Honour examined the evidence before the Director-General and the reasons provided for the refusal. The legal principle applied was that administrative decision-makers must act within the bounds of their statutory powers and must not make decisions that are so unreasonable that no reasonable decision-maker could have arrived at them.

Gaudron J granted leave to appeal, finding that there was an arguable case that the Director-General's decision was affected by an error of law.