Nagasinghe, L. v T a Worthington QC - [1994] FCA 766

LALITHA NAGASINGHE v T A WORTHINGTON QC and ADELAIDE MEDICAL CENTRE FOR WOMEN
AND CHILDREN
No. SG61 of 1994
FED No 766/94
Number of pages - 8
Administrative Law
(1994) EOC 92-649 (extract)
(1994) 53 FCR 175

(1994) 36 ALD 193

COURT

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DISTRICT REGISTRY
GENERAL DIVISION
VON DOUSSA J

CATCHWORDS

Administrative Law - judicial review - decision of an Inquiry Commissioner to summarily dismiss a complaint under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 as misconceived and lacking in substance - complainant failed to gain appointment with the respondent Medical Centre as a Senior Visiting Dentist - whether any material before the Inquiry Commissioner indicated a real possibility of some connection between the non-appointment of the applicant and her race, colour, or national or ethnic origin - whether breach of the rules of natural justice because Inquiry Commissioner refused to order production of documents ruled to be irrelevant.

Racial Discrimination Act 1975

Assal v Department of Health, Housing and Community Services (1992) EOC 92-409
G.V.R. v Department of Health, Housing and Community Services (decision of Sir Ronald Wilson, delivered 23 August 1993)

HEARING

ADELAIDE, 6 October 1994
#DATE 6:10:1994

The applicant appeared in person.

Counsel for the 1st respondent : Did not appear

Solicitor for the 1st respondent : Australian Government Solicitor

Counsel for the 2nd respondent : Mr M G Evans

Solicitor for the 2nd respondent : Finlaysons

Counsel for the Human Rights Commission as intervener : Mr S V Cullimore

Solicitor for the intervener : Australian Government Solicitor

ORDER

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1. The application for an order for review be dismissed.

2. The applicant pay the second respondent's costs.
Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

JUDGE1

VON DOUSSA J This is an application for an order of review under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 in respect of a decision made by the first respondent, Mr T A Worthington QC, sitting as Inquiry Commissioner under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

On 30 June 1994 the Inquiry Commissioner dismissed a complaint made by the applicant under the Racial Discrimination Act as being misconceived within the meaning of s.25X of that Act which provides:

"25X. Where, at any stage of an inquiry, the Commission is satisfied that a complaint is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived, lacking in substance or relates to an act that is not unlawful by reason of a provision of Part II, it may dismiss the complaint."

The applicant had applied for employment in her capacity as a registered dentist with the second respondent, the Adelaide Medical Centre for Women and Children ("the Medical Centre"), following an advertisement inserted in an Adelaide newspaper in January 1992. There was some delay before applications received in response to the advertisement were processed. There is no need to go into the reasons for that. In August 1992 the applicant was invited to attend for interview for the position of Senior Visiting Dentist.…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [1994] FCA 766
Decision Date: 06 OCTOBER 1994

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case before the court involved an application for judicial review of a decision by an Inquiry Commissioner under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. The applicant, Nagasinghe, sought to challenge the Commissioner’s determination that her complaint was misconceived and lacked substance. Nagasinghe alleged that she was not appointed as a Senior Visiting Dentist by a Medical Centre because of her race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. The Commissioner had summarily dismissed the complaint, finding no real possibility of a connection between the non-appointment and Nagasinghe’s protected attributes. Additionally, Nagasinghe contended that the Commissioner breached the rules of natural justice by refusing to order the production of documents that were deemed irrelevant.

The primary legal issues addressed by the court were whether the Inquiry Commissioner's decision to dismiss the complaint was legally sound and whether there was a breach of natural justice in the Commissioner's refusal to order the production of certain documents. The court was tasked with assessing whether there was any material before the Commissioner that indicated a real possibility of discrimination and whether the Commissioner's decision-making process was fair. The applicant argued that the Commissioner should have ordered the production of documents that could have provided evidence of discrimination, and this refusal amounted to a procedural error.

The court found that the Commissioner's assessment of the complaint was well-reasoned and supported by the evidence before him. The Commissioner had carefully considered the applicant's submissions and determined that there was no real possibility of discrimination. The court held that the Commissioner did not err in refusing to order the production of documents that were deemed irrelevant. The court further found that the Commissioner's decision-making process was fair and did not breach the rules of natural justice. Consequently, the court dismissed the application for judicial review.

The court ordered that the application for an order for review be dismissed and that the applicant pay the second respondent's costs. This decision underscores the high threshold for successfully challenging decisions made under the Racial Discrimination Act and the importance of ensuring that judicial review applications are well-founded and supported by evidence.

Orders

Orders of the court

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. The application for an order for review be dismissed.

2. The applicant pay the second respondent's costs.

Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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