NCC v Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

CITATION:

NCC v Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services [2012] QCAT 338

PARTIES:	NCC (Applicant)
v
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (Respondent)

APPLICATION NUMBER:

CML047-10

MATTER TYPE:

Childrens matters

HEARING DATE:

On the papers

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

C Endicott, Senior Member

DELIVERED ON:

25 July 2012

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

ORDERS MADE:

The application for review is dismissed.

CATCHWORDS:

CHILD PROTECTION – where review application adjourned to enable other proceedings to be completed – where new decisions made about contact and placement – where review application no longer has substance – early end to proceedings

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009, s 47

APPEARANCES and REPRESENTATION (if any):

This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (QCAT Act).

REASONS FOR DECISION

NCC applied to QCAT for a review of decisions made by the respondent department as to placement of her children and as to her contact with those children. A compulsory conference was held on 8 June 2010 and was adjourned to enable other proceedings in which NCC was involved to be completed.
NCC has not made contact with QCAT since that time. QCAT is not aware whether those other proceedings have been completed.
The respondent department informed the tribunal registry that the decisions under review are no longer current. A new contact decision was made on 16 March 2012 and a new placement decision was made on 11 August 2011. Under the new contact decision, NCC is provided with a significant increase in contact with her children.
The tribunal registry wrote to NCC on 24 April 2012 asking NCC whether she still wanted to proceed with the review application. No response was received to that letter.
As the decisions under review have been superseded by more recent decisions, there would be little utility in QCAT reviewing those older decisions in the circumstances of this case. NCC has not sought to review the more recent decisions as to contact and placement. It is open to QCAT to infer that NCC does not object to the arrangements set up by those more recent decisions.
Under section 47 of the QCAT Act, the tribunal can bring an early end to a proceeding if that proceeding is lacking in substance. In view of the fact that the decisions under review are no longer the decisions which set out current arrangements for the children, it would not be a proper use of the resources of this tribunal to proceed to a hearing of an application that no longer has an apparent basis for success.
The application for review is dismissed.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, NCC, sought a review from QCAT of decisions made by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services regarding the placement and contact with her children. The application was made on the papers and was heard and determined without a hearing. The department informed the tribunal that the decisions under review were no longer current as new decisions had been made. NCC had not responded to inquiries about whether she wished to proceed with the review application, leading to the inference that she might not object to the new arrangements.

The legal issues before the tribunal were whether the review application should proceed given that the decisions under review had been superseded and whether the application had any substance left to be heard. The tribunal considered section 47 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009, which allows for proceedings to be brought to an early end if they lack substance. The tribunal noted that reviewing the old decisions would not be a proper use of its resources given that the current decisions set out the arrangements for the children.

The tribunal concluded that there was little utility in reviewing decisions that were no longer in effect and that the application appeared to lack substance. The tribunal decided to bring the proceeding to an early end under section 47 of the QCAT Act, dismissing the application for review. The tribunal reasoned that proceeding with the review would not be a proper use of its resources, given the circumstances of the case and the lack of response from the applicant.

The tribunal dismissed the application for review, finding that it lacked substance due to the superseded nature of the decisions under review. The tribunal did not see any utility in proceeding with the review of decisions that were no longer current, especially since the applicant had not responded to inquiries about her continued interest in the matter. The tribunal's decision was based on the statutory authority to bring proceedings to an early end when they are lacking in substance.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established