Ferrall v Blyton

Ferrall (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by Blyton (the respondent), a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), to dismiss his application for review of a decision made by the respondent's employer, the Commonwealth. The applicant had been employed by the Commonwealth as a senior research scientist. His employment was terminated on 16 March 2001. The applicant sought review of this decision by the AAT. The AAT, however, dismissed his application on 18 October 2002, on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to hear the matter. The applicant then sought judicial review of the AAT's decision in the Federal Court.

The primary legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the AAT had jurisdiction to review the applicant's dismissal from Commonwealth employment. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the applicant's application for review was lodged within the time limits prescribed by the relevant legislation, and if not, whether the AAT had the power to extend those time limits. The court also considered whether the AAT's decision to dismiss the application for want of jurisdiction was affected by an error of law.

The Full Federal Court held that the AAT had erred in law by finding it lacked jurisdiction. The court reasoned that the applicant's application for review was lodged within the statutory time limit. Even if it had been out of time, the court found that the AAT possessed the power to extend the time for lodging an application for review, and that it had failed to properly consider the exercise of this power. The court applied the principles of administrative law concerning the jurisdiction of tribunals and the interpretation of statutory time limits and extension provisions.

The Full Federal Court ordered that the decision of the AAT be set aside and remitted the matter to the AAT for re-hearing according to law.