Hastwell, In the matter of an application for leave to issue or file

This matter concerned an application for leave to issue or file an application for judicial review of a decision made by the respondent, the Director-General of the Department of Communities and Justice. The applicant, Ms Hastwell, sought to challenge the Director-General's decision to refuse her application for a licence to operate a residential care service for children. The application for leave was heard by Gageler J of the High Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had established a sufficient arguable case that the Director-General's decision was vitiated by jurisdictional error. This required the Court to consider whether the Director-General had failed to take into account a relevant consideration or taken into account an irrelevant consideration when making the decision, or whether the decision was otherwise so unreasonable that it must have been attended by jurisdictional error.

Gageler J considered the principles governing applications for leave to seek judicial review, particularly the requirement for an applicant to demonstrate an arguable case of jurisdictional error. His Honour reviewed the material before the Court, including the reasons provided by the Director-General for the refusal of the licence. The Court's analysis focused on whether the applicant's submissions raised a real question as to whether the Director-General had properly exercised their statutory powers and duties.

The application for leave to issue or file the application for judicial review was dismissed.