Forde v Wrays Pty Ltd

Forde (Applicant) sought to bring proceedings against Wrays Pty Ltd (Respondent) in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The applicant had filed an application using the incorrect form, and the court was asked to consider whether it had jurisdiction to proceed and whether it could dispense with its own rules.

The central legal issues before Judge Street were whether the court possessed jurisdiction to hear the matter given the filing of the wrong form, and whether the court had the power to overlook the non-compliance with the Federal Circuit Court Rules, either by finding substantial compliance or by granting leave to amend the application.

Judge Street determined that the court lacked jurisdiction under section 723 of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) due to the applicant's failure to use the prescribed form. The court found it had no power to dispense with the Federal Circuit Court Rules to deem the application substantially compliant or to grant leave to amend in these circumstances. Consequently, the proceedings were summarily dismissed. No order was made as to costs.