Fay Louise Sconce v Commissioner of Corrective Services & Ors; Evelyn Lloyd v Commissioner of Corrective Services & Ors

The Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal, heard appeals by Fay Louise Sconce and Evelyn Lloyd against the Commissioner of Corrective Services and others. The dispute concerned the jurisdiction of the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal (GREAT) to hear promotion appeals where the applicants had not nominated specific locations for the positions they sought. The Tribunal had struck out the appeals on the basis that it lacked jurisdiction.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Tribunal had erred in law by concluding it lacked jurisdiction to hear promotion appeals when the advertisement for the positions did not identify their specific locations, and the applicants had therefore not nominated those locations in their applications. The court was required to determine the proper interpretation of the relevant provisions governing promotion appeals within the public service.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the legislative framework intended to allow appeals against promotions to positions that were not specifically identified in the advertisement, even if those positions were not nominated by the applicant. The court held that the Tribunal had misinterpreted the statutory requirements by insisting on a nomination of a specific location when the advertisement itself failed to provide this information. This failure meant that the applicants were entitled to appeal promotions to locations they had not explicitly applied for, as the advertisement created a broader pool of potential positions. Consequently, the appeals to the Tribunal were not necessarily outside its jurisdiction on the grounds of non-nomination.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeals, set aside the decision of the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal, and remitted both matters to the Tribunal to be heard and determined according to law. The appellants were awarded their costs.