Edwards & Anor and Department of Planning and Infrastructure & Ors

The applicants, Edwards and another, sought judicial review of decisions made by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and others. The dispute centred on the validity of approvals granted to a third party, the Strata Council, and the respondents sought to exclude the Strata Council from the proceedings. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) was the court in which this matter was heard.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had the jurisdiction to entertain a collateral attack on the validity of the approvals granted to the Strata Council. A collateral attack refers to a legal challenge to a decision or approval that is brought indirectly, often in the context of another proceeding. The applicants argued that the Tribunal had the power to hear their challenge to the Strata Council's approvals, while the respondents contended that the Tribunal should not consider this issue. The second issue was whether the Strata Council should be joined as a party to the review proceedings.

The Tribunal found that it did have the jurisdiction to hear the collateral attack on the validity of the approvals granted to the Strata Council. The Tribunal reasoned that since the applicants had raised this issue in the context of their review proceedings, and it directly affected the merits of the decisions under review, the Tribunal was entitled to consider it. The Tribunal also determined that the Strata Council should be joined as a party to the review proceedings to ensure that all relevant matters were determined in the one proceeding. The Tribunal further held that all other parties who had commenced similar review proceedings against the respondents should be joined as applicants to these proceedings to avoid multiplicity of proceedings.

In summary, the Tribunal found that it had the jurisdiction to hear the collateral attack on the validity of the approvals granted to the Strata Council and ordered that the Strata Council be joined as a party to the review proceedings. The Tribunal also ordered that all other parties who had commenced similar review proceedings against the respondents be joined as applicants to these proceedings. The matter was listed for a final hearing to determine all matters in issue, including the validity of the approvals granted to the Strata Council and the merits of the decisions of the first and second respondents.