Gallagher v QBSA

Gallagher sought to challenge a decision made by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCA) regarding the re-registration of a company for the purposes of winding up. The applicant argued they should be categorised as a permitted individual rather than an excluded individual. The case was heard in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

The legal issues before QCAT were whether the applicant was a director of the company within 12 months of the relevant event, whether the winding up of the company would be for the benefit of a creditor, and whether the reliance on generic advice provided by the applicant’s accountant amounted to reasonable steps. Additionally, QCAT considered the extent to which the respondent relied on the evidence of the applicant without corroboration in considering the application, and the distinction between reliance on evidence as opposed to submissions made to a court.

QCAT found that the respondent had erred in categorising the applicant as an excluded individual, and that the applicant had taken reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2000. QCAT set aside the decision of the respondent and categorised the applicant as a permitted individual. The Tribunal also granted the application for an extension of time to review a decision and consolidated the application with another proceeding.

The final orders of QCAT were that the decision of the respondent made on 16 August 2007 is set aside, the applicant is categorised as a permitted individual, the application for an extension of time to review a decision is granted, the application to review the decision to categorise the applicant as an excluded individual is dismissed, and the applications OCR092-10 and QR309-09 are to be consolidated into QR155-07.