Hazel Scott Pty Ltd and Tax Practitioners Board

Hazel Scott Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Tax Practitioners Board (the respondent) to deregister the applicant as a tax agent. The dispute concerned allegations of misbehaviour by the applicant within the regulatory regime governing tax agents, which had significant financial consequences for the applicant. The matter was heard by Deputy President Bernard McCabe.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the respondent had erred in law by failing to grant the applicant's request for a stay of its deregistration decision pending the determination of the applicant's substantive appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Court was required to consider the nature of the respondent's power to grant or refuse a stay and the principles that should guide the exercise of such discretion in the context of regulatory deregistration.

Deputy President McCabe reasoned that the respondent's decision to refuse a stay was amenable to judicial review. His Honour found that the respondent had failed to properly consider the relevant factors, including the severe financial detriment the applicant would suffer if the deregistration took effect immediately, and the potential for the applicant to suffer irreparable harm. The Court applied the principles of administrative law, emphasizing that decisions affecting a person's livelihood must be made fairly and with due regard to the consequences. The respondent's failure to adequately weigh these considerations constituted an error of law.

The Court ordered that the respondent's decision to refuse the stay be set aside and remitted to the respondent for reconsideration according to law.