Macareo v Remax

[2024] QCAT 264

QUEENSLAND CIVIL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

CITATION:

Macareo v Remax [2024] QCAT 264

PARTIES:

ALBA YANETH MARTINEZ MACAREO

(applicant)

v

REMAX

(respondent)

APPLICATION NO/S:

Q752-24

MATTER TYPE:

Residential tenancy matters

DELIVERED ON:

10 June 2024

HEARING DATE:

10 June 2024

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

Adjudicator Alan Walsh

ORDERS:

1.     The Respondent’s application to transfer the matter to Toowoomba for hearing is refused.

2.     The Applicant’s application for the matter to remain in Brisbane is granted.

DIRECTION

1.     I direct that the QCAT Registry upload a copy of these reasons to the QCASE file for this matter.

CATCHWORDS:

QUEENSLAND CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL – MINOR CIVIL DISPUTE – TENANCY DISPUTE – where applicant commenced proceedings in Brisbane for orders in relation to a former tenancy in Toowoomba – where applicant resident in Brisbane and of limited means – where applicant constrained by personal circumstances – where respondent applied for transfer of proceedings to Toowoomba – where transfer refused – where respondent requested written reasons for refusal – whether transfer appropriate in the circumstances

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld), s 4

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2009 (Qld), r 8

APPEARANCES & REPRESENTATION: This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld)

REASONS FOR DECISION

QCASE - context

1. This Tribunal now has a digital platform called QCASE that has progressively been rolled out through the regions in Queensland replacing the old paper-based files and records kept by the Tribunal.

2. This particular case came before me digitally at Brisbane for an on the papers decision as duty roster adjudicator on 10 June 2024 upon an application by Remax for transfer of the matter from Brisbane to Toowoomba.

3. The tenancy premises are located in Toowoomba though Ms Macareo is no longer a tenant there.

4. Also before me on 10 June 2024 was an application by Ms Macareo that the proceedings remain in Brisbane where she commenced them.

Orders

1. I made orders on 10 June 2024 refusing the transfer to Toowoomba and that the case stay in Brisbane.

Facility for Reasons

1. The QCASE platform does not permit a digital recording of contemporaneous reasons for decisions made on the papers.

2. Reasons cannot be dictated and recorded for dissemination to the parties if requested, unless a particular matter was heard with reasons given orally in a hearing room attended by a hearing support officer which, in the case of on the papers duty roster matters, is usually not available.

Request for written reasons

1. Remax has requested reasons for my decision.

2. I am obliged to deliver them in writing in the present circumstances.

3. They cannot currently be given orally with a CD Rom recording to be delivered to the parties in satisfaction of the requirement that they be given in writing.

4. That limitation comes at the expense of the Tribunal’s limited resources to deal with matters economically, informally, and quickly, as is required by its statute.

Reasons

1. My reasons are as follows.

2. In tenancy matters, Rule 8 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2008 (Qld) permits the filing of an application either in the Brisbane Registry or in the Registry closest to the relevant residence or rental premises.

3. As earlier stated, the rental premises formerly tenanted by Ms Macareo are in Toowoomba.

4. She elected to file her application in Brisbane for the following reasons.

   (a)It is here that she now lives.

   (b)She is a single mother of a 4-year-old toddler.

   (c)She doesn’t have a driver’s licence or car.

   (d)She is currently unemployed.

   (e)She is not fluent in the English language.

   (f)She needs the assistance of a friend in Brisbane with paperwork and presentation.

5. Remax knows those things from Ms Macareo’s paperwork.

6. Section 4(e) of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld) requires in the discharge of its functions that the Tribunal ensure that it is accessible and responsive to the diverse needs of persons who use the tribunal.

7. A decision to transfer the proceedings to Toowoomba would not have been appropriate in the circumstances identified by Ms Macareo.

8. On the contrary, such a transfer would have been inimical to access to the Tribunal and her special needs.

9. That is why I made the orders for which Remax requested reasons.

10. I will direct that Registry upload a copy of these reasons to the QCASE digital file for this matter.