Lever and Comcare

The matter of *Lever and Comcare* concerned an application for the recusal of Deputy President Cowdroy OAM QC from hearing a claim for compensation under the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth). The applicant, Mr Lever, sought the Deputy President's recusal on the grounds of apprehended bias, alleging that the Deputy President had demonstrated a predisposition against him during previous proceedings.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there was a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the Deputy President, such that it would be unfair for him to continue to preside over Mr Lever's claim. This required the Tribunal to consider the objective test for apprehended bias, which involves assessing whether a fair-minded lay observer, knowing the relevant facts, would apprehend that the judicial officer might not bring an impartial mind to the issues.

Deputy President Cowdroy OAM QC applied the established principles for determining apprehended bias. He considered the specific allegations made by Mr Lever and the context in which they arose. The Deputy President concluded that the conduct complained of did not demonstrate any actual bias or give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias in the mind of a fair-minded observer. He found that his previous conduct was consistent with his role as an adjudicator and did not indicate any predisposition against the applicant.

The application for recusal was therefore refused.