Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia v Linquist

[2019] NSWSC 978

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia v Linquist [2019] NSWSC 978

Hearing dates:

30 July 2019

Decision date:

02 August 2019

Jurisdiction:

Common Law

Before:

Adamson J

Decision:

See paragraph [62]

Catchwords:

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – appeal from Civil and Administrative Tribunal – whether decision made by validly constituted tribunal – four-member tribunal was constituted for the purposes of the hearing – whether principal member could separately and simultaneously constitute herself as the tribunal to decide legal questions – single member of a multi-person tribunal which has already been constituted not authorised to constitute himself or herself as the tribunal on unstated informal basis or to make a decision unilaterally without recourse to the balance of the tribunal – decision void

 

COSTS – whether successful plaintiff ought pay defendant’s costs of proceedings – defendant invited to file submitting appearance – defendant not neutral contradictor – costs follow the event

  COSTS – suitors’ fund – application for suitors’ fund certificate – appropriate to grant certificate where defendant did not contribute to error made by tribunal

Legislation Cited:

Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW), ss 4, 27, 57, Sch 5, cll 11, 13, 29
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW), ss 5, 52, 55, 77, 82, 84, 165B, 175
Health Practitioner Regulation (Adoption of National Law) Act 2009 (NSW), s 6C
Suitors’ Fund Act 1951 (NSW), s 6
Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 69
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR), rr 42.1, 50.3

Cases Cited:

Brown v West (1990) 169 CLR 195; [1990] HCA 7
Mir Bros Developments Pty Ltd v Atlantic Constructions Pty Ltd (1985) 1 NSWLR 491
Oshlack v Richmond River Council (1998) 193 CLR 72; [1998] HCA 11
Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd [2018] HCA 4; (2018) 92 ALJR 248
Qidwai v Brown [1984] 1 NSWLR 100
Re Refugee Tribunal; Ex parte Aala (2000) 204 CLR 82; [2000] HCA 57
R v Hickman; Ex parte Fox and Clinton (1945) 70 CLR 598; [1945] HCA 53

Category:

Principal judgment

Parties:

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (Plaintiff)
Tara-Louise Linquist (Defendant)

Representation:

Counsel:
JJ Loofs SC/K Young (Plaintiff)
S Prince SC/T Wong (Defendant)

  Solicitors:
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Plaintiff)
Etheringtons Solicitors (Defendant)

File Number(s):

2018/393773

 Decision under appeal 

Court or tribunal:

New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal

Jurisdiction:

Occupational Division

Citation:

[2018] NSWCATOD 183

Date of Decision:

9 November 2018

Before:

A Britton, Principal Member

File Number(s):

2017/388172

Judgment

Introduction

1. The plaintiff, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the Board), appeals against a decision of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) in relation to an appeal brought by the defendant, Tara Linquist, against the Board’s refusal of her application for registration as a nurse.

2. The decision the subject of appeal was made on 9 November 2018. The summons was filed on 21 December 2018. Accordingly, the Board requires an extension of time under Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR), r 50.3(1)(c) of about a fortnight. The extension is opposed. By amended summons filed in Court on 30 July 2019, the Board sought to add two further decisions which it contended ought also be set aside. I granted leave to amend the summons.

The relevant legislative provisions

The National Law

3. Before summarising the relevant facts I propose to set out the legislative provisions relevant to the issues before the Tribunal as well as the provisions relevant to its constitution.

4. Section 5(ga) of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (the National Law) defines “nursing” as a “health profession”. The term “responsible tribunal” is defined in s 5 of the National Law which, when read with s 6C of the Health Practitioner Regulation (Adoption of National Law) Act 2009 (NSW), makes the Tribunal the “responsible tribunal” for the purposes of the National Law. The Board is the relevant national board for nursing by reason of regulation 4 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Regulation 2018.

5. Part 7 of the National Law, entitled “Registration of health practitioners”, contains Division 1, entitled “General registration”, which contains the following provisions:

“52   Eligibility for general registration

(1)  An individual is eligible for general registration in a health profession if—

(a)  the individual is qualified for general registration in the health profession; and

(b)  the individual has successfully completed—

(i)  any period of supervised practice in the health profession required by an approved registration standard for the health profession; or

(ii)  any examination or assessment required by an approved registration standard for the health profession to assess the individual’s ability to competently and safely practise the profession; and

(c)  the individual is a suitable person to hold general registration in the health profession; and

(d)  the individual is not disqualified under this Law or a law of a co-regulatory jurisdiction from applying for registration, or being registered, in the health profession; and

(e)  the individual meets any other requirements for registration stated in an approved registration standard for the health profession.

(2)  Without limiting subsection (1), the National Board established for the health profession may decide the individual is eligible for general registration in the profession by imposing conditions on the registration under section 83.

...

55   Unsuitability to hold general registration

(1)  A National Board may decide an individual is not a suitable person to hold general registration in a health profession if—

. . .

(f)  the nature, extent, period and recency of any previous practice of the profession is not sufficient to meet the requirements specified in an approved registration standard relevant to general registration in the profession; or

(g)  the individual fails to meet any other requirement in an approved registration standard for the profession about the suitability of individuals to be registered in the profession or to competently and safely practise the profession; or

(h)  in the Board’s opinion, the individual is for any other reason—

(i)  not a fit and proper person for general registration in the profession; or

(ii)  unable to practise the profession competently and safely.

…”

6. Division 6 of Part 7, entitled “Application for registration”, contains s 77, which relevantly provides that an individual may apply to the Board for registration.

7. Section 82 provides:

“82   Decision about application

(1)  After considering an application for registration and any submissions made in accordance with a notice under section 81, a National Board established for a health profession must—

…

(c)  decide to refuse to grant the applicant registration in the health profession if—

(i)  the applicant is ineligible for registration in the profession under a relevant section because the applicant—

(A)  is not qualified for registration; or

(B)  has not completed a period of supervised practice in the health profession, or an examination or assessment required by the Board to assess the individual’s ability to practise the profession; or

(C)  is not a suitable person to hold registration; or

(D)  is disqualified under this Law from applying for registration, or being registered, in the health profession; or

(E)  does not meet a requirement for registration stated in an approved registration standard for the profession; or

…

(2)  In this section—

relevant section means section 52, 57, 62, 65 or 73.”

8. Within 30 days of making a decision under s 82, the Board must notify the applicant in writing of the decision and provide reasons. The Board is also required to notify the applicant of the right of appeal: s 84.

9. Division 14A, entitled “Appeals”, relevantly provides, in s 175, that a person who is the subject of a decision by the Board to refuse to register the person (which is, relevantly, an “appellable decision”), may appeal against the decision to the “appropriate responsible tribunal”. The effect of s 175(3) is that, as Ms Linquist lives in New South Wales, the “appropriate responsible tribunal” is the Tribunal.

10. Division 10 of the National Law makes provision in Subdivision 2 for the constitution of the Tribunal. Section 165B relevantly provides:

“165B   Constitution of Tribunal for complaints, applications and appeals [NSW]

(1)  If a complaint is referred to the Tribunal or an application or appeal is made to the Tribunal under this Law—

(a)  the Tribunal must inform the Council for the health profession of the referral, application or appeal; and

(b)  the Council for the health profession must select 3 persons (whether or not they are currently Division members) to sit as members of the Tribunal in the proceedings.

…

(2)  …when conducting an inquiry or hearing an appeal under this Law, is to be constituted by—

(a)  1 Division member who is an Australian lawyer of at least 7 years’ standing or, in the case of medical practitioner proceedings, 1 Division member who is a senior judicial officer; and

(b)  2 health practitioners selected for appointment by the Council as occasional members under subsection (1) (b) who are registered in the same health profession as the health practitioner or student the subject of the inquiry or appeal; and

(c)  1 lay person (that is, a person who is not registered in the health profession) selected for appointment by the Council as an occasional member under subsection (1) (b) from among a panel of lay persons for the time being nominated by the Minister.

…

(4)  The Tribunal, when constituted to hear appeals under this Law that are restricted to points of law, is to be constituted by—

(a)  in the case of medical practitioner proceedings, 1 Division member who is a senior judicial officer; or

(b)  in any other case, 1 Division member who is an Australian lawyer of at least 7 years’ standing.

…

(5A)  The Tribunal, when constituted to make an ancillary decision or an interlocutory decision within the meaning of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013, is to be constituted by the Tribunal List Manager or the member referred to in subsection (2) (a).”

Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW)

11. Section 4 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) (the CAT Act) relevantly provides:

“ancillary decision of the Tribunal means a decision made by the Tribunal under legislation (other than an interlocutory decision of the Tribunal) that is preliminary to, or consequential on, a decision determining proceedings, including:

(a)  a decision concerning whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction to deal with a matter, and

(b)  a decision concerning the awarding of costs in proceedings.”

“interlocutory decision of the Tribunal means a decision made by the Tribunal under legislation concerning any of the following:

(a)  the granting of a stay or adjournment,

(b)  the prohibition or restriction of the disclosure, broadcast or publication of matters,

(c)  the issue of a summons,

(d)  the extension of time for any matter (including for the lodgment of an application or appeal),

(e)  an evidential matter,

(f)  the disqualification of any member,

(g)  the joinder or misjoinder of a party to proceedings,

(h)  the summary dismissal of proceedings,

(h1)  the granting of leave for a person to represent a party to proceedings,

(i)  any other interlocutory issue before the Tribunal.”

12. Section 27(2) of the CAT Act provides:

“(2)  The President may give directions as to the members who are to constitute the Tribunal for the purposes of any particular proceedings.

Note.

The President may delegate the function of constituting the Tribunal for particular proceedings to a Division Head for a Division of the Tribunal or another member. See clause 12 of Schedule 2.”

13. Section 57 of the CAT Act provides:

“57   Tribunal divided in opinion

(1)  If the Tribunal is constituted by more than one member for the purposes of the determination of any proceedings and the members are divided in opinion, the opinion of the majority is taken to be the decision of the Tribunal.

(2)  However, a question of law arising in proceedings in which the Tribunal is constituted by one or more members who are Australian lawyers is to be decided in accordance with the opinion of the member or the majority of the members who are Australian lawyers.

(3)  If the members are equally divided in their opinion, the opinion that prevails is:

(a)  in proceedings in which the presiding member is an Australian lawyer or none of the members sitting are Australian lawyers—the opinion of the presiding member, or

(b)  in proceedings in which the presiding member is not an Australian lawyer but one or more of the other members sitting are Australian lawyers:

(i)  on a question of law—the opinion of the member who is an Australian lawyer (or the member with the greatest seniority who is an Australian lawyer), or

(ii)  on any other question—the opinion of the presiding member.

(4)  In this section, question of law includes the question whether a particular question is a question of law.”

14. An appeal lies to this Court on a question of law from a decision of the Tribunal following a “profession decision”: Sch 5, cll 29(2)(b) and (4)(b). The powers of this Court on such an appeal are set out in Sch 5, cl 29(8), which provides as follows:

“(8)  In determining a non-lawyer appeal, the court may make such orders as it considers appropriate in light of its decision on the appeal, including (but not limited to) orders that provide for any one or more of the following:

(a)  the decision under appeal to be confirmed, affirmed or varied,

(b)  the decision under appeal to be quashed or set aside,

(c)  the decision under appeal to be quashed or set aside and for another decision to be substituted for it,

(d)  the whole or any part of the case to be reconsidered by the Tribunal at first instance, either with or without further evidence, in accordance with the directions of the court.”

15. Schedule 5 to the CAT Act also relevantly provides:

“11   List Manager of Health Practitioner List

(1)  A Division member is to be designated as the List Manager for the Health Practitioner List, but only on the recommendation of the Minister for Health.

(2)  A Division member is qualified to be designated as the List Manager for the Health Practitioner List only if the member is an Australian lawyer of at least 7 years’ standing.

(3)  The functions of the List Manager for the Health Practitioner List are:

(a)  to manage the proceedings that are entered in the List, and

(b)  to give directions concerning the constitution of the Tribunal for proceedings entered in the List (subject to any direction of the President or Division Head of the Division) as if the function of constituting the Tribunal for such proceedings had been delegated by the President to the List Manager under clause 12 of Schedule 2, and

(c)  to exercise such other functions as are conferred or imposed on the List Manager by or under this Act or the National Law.

(4)  The List Manager for the Health Practitioner List may delegate any of the List Manager’s functions (other than this power of delegation, but including functions relating to the management of proceedings involving any particular class of health practitioner) to another Division member who is an Australian lawyer of at least 7 years’ standing.

…

13   Constitution of Tribunal for proceedings entered in Health Practitioner List

(1)  The Tribunal, when exercising a Division function in proceedings that are entered in the Health Practitioner List, is to be constituted (and, where necessary, reconstituted) in accordance with any applicable requirements specified by or under the National Law for the constitution of the Tribunal in proceedings of the kind concerned.

(2)  Nothing in subclause (1) limits the exercise by the List Manager for the Health Practitioner List (or a delegate of the List Manager) of any of the functions of the List Manager.

Note.

The National Law also makes special provision with respect to certain practice and procedure for proceedings entered in the Health Practitioner List.”

The facts

Ms Linquist’s application for registration

16. Ms Linquist holds a Bachelor Degree in Nursing, which was conferred by the University of Sydney in 1997. She worked as a nurse from 1997 until 2006 at which point she ceased practice and undertook family responsibilities. On 13 June 2017 she applied to the Board, pursuant to s 77 of the National Law, for general registration in the profession of nursing.

The decision of the Board to refuse to grant Ms Linquist’s application for registration

17. In a notice dated 4 December 2017 the Board informed Ms Linquist of its refusal of her application on the ground that she did not meet the “Registration standard: Recency of Practice” (the Standard). It informed her that she needed to requalify before she could be registered again and that it was not sufficient for her to undertake a refresher course. The notice said, of present relevance:

“The South Australia Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the Board) considered your application for general registration as a Registered Nurse at its meeting on 18 August 2017. At this meeting the Board determined to propose to refuse your application on the basis that you do not meet the requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s (NMBA) Recency of Practice Registration Standard (the Standard).

…

The Board arrived at its decision on the following grounds:

1. Under section 55(1)(g) of the National Law, you fail to meet the requirements of an approved registration standard, specifically the Recency of Practice Registration Standard.

2.    The nature, extent, period and recency of your previous practice of the profession is not sufficient to meet the requirements for registration as specified in the Standard. Specifically you:

a.   last practised as a Registered Nurse in June 2006;

b.    have not maintained a connection with the profession;

c.    have not undertaken any program or assessment approved by the Board in the last five years; and

d.    have not undertaken supervised practice experience approved by the Board in the last five years.

3.    You are not a suitable candidate for re-entry or supervised practice. Your length of time away from the profession, lack of connection with the profession and absence of any continuing professional development related to nursing is significant.

4.    A re-entry course would be insufficient to bridge the significant knowledge gaps to practise competently and safely in the profession.

5.    In accordance with the NMBA’s Re-entry to practice policy you will be required to demonstrate the successful completion of a NMBA-approved entry to practice program of study, leading to initial registration.”

The appeal to the Tribunal

18. On 22 December 2017 Ms Linquist appealed to the Tribunal against the decision pursuant to s 175 of the National Law. There was a directions hearing in the Tribunal before Boland AJ, the List Manager (see Sch 5, cl 11 above), who set down the matter for final hearing on 21 and 22 June 2018. On 8 May 2018 Ms Linquist filed an amended notice of appeal.

19. On 21 June 2018 Ms Linquist’s appeal was heard by the Tribunal which was constituted by Principal Member Britton, Senior Members Clarke and O’Baugh and General Member Johnston. Both Principal Member Britton and General Member Johnston are Australian lawyers with a current practising certificate.

20. In the course of the hearing, the Board identified two decisions that were the subject of the appeal:

1. the decision to refuse Ms Linquist’s application for registration; and

2. the decision that she could not fulfil the requirements of registration by undertaking a re-entry course.

21. It was common ground that Ms Linquist did not meet the Standard for the purposes of ss 52(1)(e) and 82(1)(c)(i)(E).

22. Evidence was tendered before the Tribunal and submissions made as to the matters raised in the appeal. The issues raised by the appeal included a jurisdictional issue (whether the notice dated 4 December 2017 refusing Ms Linquist’s application could found an appeal under s 175), questions of statutory construction (including whether Ms Linquist could have been registered subject to conditions or whether the effect of s 52(1)(e), having regard to the terms of the Standard, meant that she could not be registered until she had completed a course as determined by the Board) and questions which related to the merits of her application.

23. As the transcript of the hearing records, all of these issues were canvassed at the hearing on 21 June 2018. The evidence included an affidavit of Mr Hillary and a report by Dr Heartfield (which were relied on by the Board) as well as an affidavit of Ms Linquist. A bundle of documents was tendered and Dr Heartfield was cross-examined on her report which went to the merits of the appeal and the question whether it was appropriate for there to be a departure from the Board’s policy.

24. Dr Heartfield deposed as to the difficulties she saw in Ms Linquist’s length of absence from the nursing profession. For example, she said in cross-examination:

“In my experience the courses are designed as a top-up program for a student who has a sufficiently rigorous foundation in nursing to be able to have that foundation supplemented in a brief, structured way, to then have clinical assessments by the experts that are appropriate to do that against that [sic] existing Standards for Practice. So there’s the individual and what they bring to that, and there’s the structured program and there’s the expertise of the people making the judgments around that. And that’s the basis on which ANMAC the Australian Nursing Midwifery Accreditation Agency approves such programs to be made available for people as a re-entry program or a top-up program to get back into working as a registered nurse.”

25. Dr Heartfield was also cross-examined about the re-entry nursing program offered by Deakin University. This cross-examination was presumably undertaken in order that Ms Linquist would have evidence to support her submission that a conditional registration would be appropriate in her case, notwithstanding her lengthy absence from the profession.

26. The issue of Ms Linquist’s fitness for re-entry to the profession was squarely raised in evidence, written submissions and in the course of the oral hearing on 21 June 2018. It was plainly central to the merits of her appeal against the Board’s refusal to grant her application for registration.

27. Further, Principal Member Britton was not the only member of the Tribunal who is recorded on the transcript as having asked questions as Senior Member Baugh is also recorded as having done so. At the conclusion of the evidence, the parties made submissions on all issues, including the merits of the application.

28. At the conclusion of the hearing on 21 June 2018, Principal Member Britton, the presiding member of the Tribunal, said:

“We’ll reserve our decision. Thank you very much for your assistance and we’ve now concluded.”

The purported decision of the Tribunal

29. On 9 November 2018, the parties were notified by email of the publication of the Tribunal’s decision. The email contained a link to the Tribunal’s decision (the Original Decision). The published decision indicated that the orders made by the Tribunal as constituted by the four members referred to above was:

“1.   The Tribunal has jurisdiction to determine the appeal.

2.   The appeal is listed for directions on 23 November 2018.”

30. Later that day, when the link was again accessed, it led to an amended decision which named Principal Member Britton as the sole member of the Tribunal and made no reference to the circumstance that the hearing had been conducted before all four tribunal members (the Amended Decision). The Amended Decision was, in all other respects, indistinguishable from the Original Decision. The Original Decision has been removed from the internet and was no longer accessible. It was common ground in this Court that the Original Decision contained a “clerical error” and had not been made by the four members which constituted the Tribunal. The parties agreed that the Amended Decision was solely the decision of Principal Member Britton.

31. It is also plain from the terms of the Amended Decision that it was made by Principal Member Britton alone. So much appears from [18] which said as follows:

“Where, as in this case, the Tribunal is constituted by a single member, the appeal is restricted to points of law: s 165B(4) of the National Law. The points of law in this case concern questions of jurisdiction and statutory construction.”

32. Mr Prince SC, who appeared with Ms Wong on behalf of Ms Linquist, accepted that s 165B(4) had no application to the present case and that Principal Member Britton’s Amended Decision could not be justified on that basis.

Further directions hearings

33. On 23 November 2018, the matter was listed before Boland AJ, as List Manager. The uncontroverted evidence of Clare Dixon, a Senior Legal Advisor employed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, was that, at the directions hearing on 23 November 2018, her Honour “could not provide any explanation as to what had occurred and ordered that the matter be listed for directions before Principal Member Britton.”

34. The matter was listed for further directions on 13 December 2018 before Principal Member Britton. An unauthorised, but unchallenged, transcript of that directions hearing recorded that Principal Member Britton believed (mistakenly) that it had been determined that the jurisdictional question would be decided by her alone before the four-member tribunal was constituted and that the matter had been heard by her alone and not by a four-member tribunal. The relevant passage is as follows:

“PRINCIPAL MEMBER BRITTON: Yes, but at some point the original...administrative decision made not to reconvene the entire panel and just to list it before me, my understanding is, this is how it proceeded, and that it was understood that it was I think a jurisdiction to determine, however, badged a jurisdictional issue otherwise it would have been listed before a four‑member panel."

35. At the conclusion of the directions hearing, Principal Member Britton said:

“I would ask the Registrar to order a transcript of the hearing.”

36. Although it is not entirely clear, I infer that this was a reference to the transcript of the hearing which had already taken place on 21 June 2018. In these circumstances, it would appear that Principal Member Britton had not received a copy of the transcript which formed part of the court book in this Court and may have been relying on her own notes of the hearing on 21 June 2018. Had she had access to the transcript of 21 June 2018 she would have been reminded, as was the case, that the hearing had proceeded on all issues before a four-member tribunal, constituted under s 165B(2). At the conclusion of the directions hearing on 13 December 2018, Principal Member Britton made the following directions:

“1. Tara-Louise Linquist is to give to the other party, any material on which that party relies on or before 01 March 2019.

2. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia is to give to the other party, any material on which that party relies on or before 11 April 2019.

3. All parties are to give to the Tribunal 5 copies of all their material and 4 USBs containing that material on or before 11 April 2019.

4. The proceeding is listed for case conference on 12 April 2019 at 9:30 at John Maddison Tower, Level 10, 86-90 Goulburn Street, Sydney for 30 minutes.”

37. These directions are consistent with Principal Member Britton’s mistaken belief (which was reflected in [18] of the Amended Decision extracted above) that she had, by herself, decided jurisdictional questions under s 165B(4) (which was accepted by the parties to be inapplicable) and that issues relating to the merits of the appeal were yet to be heard by a four-member tribunal constituted under s 165B(2).

38. The next meeting of the Board took place on 20 December 2018. At this meeting the Board authorised the commencement of these proceedings. The summons was filed and served on the following day, 21 December 2018.

Consideration

39. Mr Loofs SC, who appeared with Ms Young on behalf of the Board, contended that the Original Decision (which was apparently issued in error) and the Amended Decision ought be set aside as they were not made by a validly constituted tribunal and that the matter should be remitted to the tribunal of the four members which had heard the matter on 21 June 2018 for that tribunal to determine the matter. Mr Loofs also contended that the directions and orders made by Boland AJ and Principal Member Britton ought be set aside because they proceeded from an illegal foundation.

40. Mr Prince submitted that what had occurred was in accordance with the National Law and the CAT Act. He relied on the decision of Brown v West (1990) 169 CLR 195 at 203; [1990] HCA 7 in support of the uncontroversial proposition that a decision-maker’s reference to an incorrect source of power does not affect the exercise of that power if it can be supported by another statutory provision to which reference is not made. He submitted that in so far as the Amended Decision determined that the Board (and therefore the Tribunal) had power to grant registration on conditions under s 52(2) in respect of an applicant who would otherwise be ineligible for registration by reason of s 52(1)(e) and whose application the Board (and the Tribunal) would otherwise be obliged to refuse by reason of s 82(1)(c)(i)(E), it was either an ancillary or interlocutory decision within the meaning of s 4 of the CAT Act because it related to the Tribunal’s power, and therefore its jurisdiction, to grant registration to the applicant. On this basis, Mr Prince contended that it was open to Principal Member Britton to decide these matters, which were the subject of the Amended Decision pursuant to s 165B(5A).

41. He submitted that there was no impediment to Principal Member Britton separately constituting herself as the tribunal pursuant to s 165B(5A) although a four-member tribunal had been constituted under s 165B(2) for the purposes of the hearing on 21 June 2018. Further, he contended that there was nothing untoward about a hearing before a tribunal constituted by four members also, at the same time, including a tribunal constituted by one of the four (Principal Member Britton). He submitted, in effect, that there was no need for this putative separate and simultaneous constitution to be disclosed to the parties to the proceedings either at the hearing or in the reasons.

42. In reply, Mr Loofs argued that the construction of s 165B(5A) for which Mr Prince contended would lead to an “anarchic” result which was, in any event, inconsistent with the terms of s 57 of the CAT Act.

43. It is important to state at the outset that the appeal to this Court is confined to the question of the validity of the Original Decision (if it was a decision at all) and the Amended Decision and consequential directions. The Board has not sought to appeal against what Principal Member Britton purported to decide. Rather, it contended that the Amended Decision was void. It was common ground that this Court has jurisdiction under Sch 5 of the CAT Act to grant the relief sought in the amended summons. In these circumstances, it is not necessary to address s 69 of the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), which would have provided another source of jurisdiction for the orders sought by the Board. In effect, the Board is seeking orders in the nature of certiorari (to quash the Amended Decision and associated orders) and in the nature of mandamus (to require the four-member Tribunal to decide the appeal which was heard by it on 21 June 2018). However, the Court may also make orders to that effect under cl 29(8) of Sch 5.

44. I accept the Board’s submissions. The Tribunal was constituted under s 165B(2) for the hearing of Ms Linquist’s appeal under s 175. As referred to above, the hearing canvassed the question of statutory construction and the merits of the application. Evidence was adduced and submissions were made on all issues. If, as Mr Prince contended in this Court, there was a paucity of evidence as to the appropriate conditions for which Ms Linquist contended, this was the consequence of forensic decisions made on her behalf by her legal representatives by which she is bound and does not alter the ambit of the hearing on 21 June 2018.

45. It is plain from s 57 of the CAT Act that the legislature contemplated that questions of law would arise in the course of hearings before a tribunal which was constituted by more than one member and made provision for the resolution of such questions where there was a dispute between members on questions of law. As referred to above, two of the members who constituted the Tribunal on 21 June 2018 were Australian lawyers. While Principal Member Britton’s view could prevail in the event of a dispute, the process required that the four members take part in the decision and questions of law be decided by those of the four members who were Australian lawyers.

46. The analysis contended for on behalf of Ms Linquist, that it was open to Principal Member Britton to decide legal questions separately from the balance of the Tribunal which had heard the matter, having been constituted under s 165B(2) as a four-member tribunal, cannot be accepted. Section 165B(5A) requires a tribunal to be separately constituted for the purposes of making an ancillary or interlocutory decision. It does not authorise a single member of a multi-person tribunal which has already been constituted to make such a decision unilaterally without recourse to the balance of the tribunal or to constitute himself or herself as the Tribunal on some unstated informal basis.

47. In the present case, Principal Member Britton did not purport to constitute herself as the Tribunal for the purposes of s 165B(5A). There is no evidence that any step was taken by the President under s 21 of the CAT Act or the List Manager under cll 11 or 13 of Sch 5 of the CAT Act to constitute Principal Member Britton, sitting alone, as the Tribunal. What occurred was that the Tribunal was constituted under s 165B(2) with four members, of whom Principal Member Britton was one.

48. Moreover, there is no indication that Principal Member Britton would have considered that she was entitled to make the Amended Decision had she recalled that she had been sitting with others and had not been separately constituted to decide an ancillary question under s 165B(5A). Indeed, it was common ground that the provision to which she referred in [18] of the Amended Decision, s 165B(4), was inapplicable to the present case and could not provide a source of power for her to make the Amended Decision.

49. It is apparent from the transcript of the directions hearing Principal Member Britton conducted on 13 December 2018 that she was under a fundamental misapprehension as to what had occurred, including as to the way the Tribunal had been constituted for the hearing of the appeal on 21 June 2018. This misapprehension may be explained by the lapse of over four months between the hearing on 21 June 2018 and the publication of reasons on 9 November 2018 and the real possibility that Principal Member Britton was relying on her own notes when she wrote the Amended Decision because, at that time, no transcript had yet been prepared. I accept Mr Loofs’ submission that the overwhelming inference is that Principal Member Britton had simply forgotten that she had been sitting with three others on 21 June 2018 and had mistakenly believed that she had been sitting alone to decide a purely jurisdictional issue.

50. I am not persuaded that the question of statutory construction referred to above was either an ancillary or interlocutory decision. The better view is that it was a question of law which was within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction under s 175 to consider. I reject Mr Prince’s submission that because the question of statutory construction affected the Tribunal’s powers to grant registration, it necessarily affected the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. Although the words power and jurisdiction may, in some circumstances, be synonymous, they are not necessarily so. The Tribunal plainly had the jurisdiction to determine whether it had the power to make an order granting registration to Ms Linquist on conditions. The question of power was, in substance, a question of what remedies were open to the Tribunal to grant to Ms Linquist. In the event of a disagreement between the two members of the Tribunal who were Australian lawyers, the disagreement as to the ambit of the power fell to be resolved in accordance with s 57 of the CAT Act. Section 165B(5A) is a facultative provision designed to deal with decisions which are truly ancillary or interlocutory. To give it the broad construction for which Ms Linquist contended would substantially undermine the parties’ right to have an appeal under s 175 heard and determined by a Tribunal constituted in accordance with s 165B(2).

51. I note for completeness that the single jurisdictional issue that was raised before the Tribunal on 21 June 2018 was whether the Board’s letter of 4 December 2017 was capable of giving rise to rights of appeal under s 175. The Board’s argument that it did not was rejected in summary fashion at [14] of the Amended Decision. This issue occupied a relatively short time in the hearing on 21 June 2018.

Conclusion

52. On 21 June 2018 the Tribunal was constituted by all four members. Section 165B(5A) provides no warrant for a “subset” of a constituted Tribunal to separately determine matters in the context of a hearing before the Tribunal. There was, in any event, no formal reconstitution of the Tribunal for that purpose. What occurred did not comply with the law. The Original Decision has been accepted to have been published in error. The Amended Decision was beyond the jurisdiction of Principal Member Britton since she had no authority to make it: R v Hickman; Ex parte Fox and Clinton (1945) 70 CLR 598 at 606 (Latham CJ); [1945] HCA 53; Re Refugee Tribunal; Ex parte Aala (2000) 204 CLR 82; [2000] HCA 57 at [163] (Hayne J); and Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd [2018] HCA 4; (2018) 92 ALJR 248 at [64] (Edelman J). The Original Decision is void as it was not made at all. The Amended Decision was void for want of jurisdiction and must be set aside, provided an extension of time is granted. The directions made subsequently rested on the incorrect assumption that the Amended Decision was validly made and was within power. They, too, must be set aside, if an extension is granted.

Whether time ought be extended

53. The merits of the appeal to this Court, which are set out above, are relevant to the question whether time ought be extended. UCPR, r 50.3(1) requires a party to file a notice of appeal within 28 days of the material date, which was, relevantly 9 November 2018. An extension in the order of a fortnight is required. I am persuaded, for the following reasons, that this Court ought extend the time for the filing of the summons.

54. First, although the Amended Decision was made on 9 November 2018, it was not immediately clear who had made the decision. The Original Decision indicated that the decision was that of the four-member Tribunal, whereas the Amended Decision indicated that the decision was solely that of Principal Member Britton. Secondly, the directions hearing before Boland AJ on 23 November 2018 did not shed further light on the matter. It was only when the matter came before Principal Member Britton on 13 December 2018 that it became relatively clear what had happened: namely, that Principal Member Britton had acted under a misapprehension as she had forgotten what had actually occurred on 21 June 2018. The Board moved as quickly as reasonably possible. The summons was drafted in readiness for the Board to consider at its meeting on 20 December 2018 and was filed the following day. In these circumstances, the Board has an overwhelming case for an extension of time under UCPR, r 50.3(1)(c).

The further conduct of the proceedings before the Tribunal

55. There is a question whether Principal Member Britton ought continue on the Tribunal, having regard to the circumstance that she has already expressed her concluded view (in the form of the Amended Decision) on a topic about which the other members of the Tribunal might have a different view and might, as a consequence, persuade her to change her mind. Notwithstanding this potential issue, it was common ground that if the matter were to be remitted to the Tribunal by this Court, it ought be remitted to the same tribunal constituted by the same four members. Mr Loofs confirmed that the Board had no objection to Principal Member Britton’s continued participation. He also confirmed that the Board did not suggest that there would be any bias or apprehension of bias arising from Principal Member Britton’s continuing to participate in the hearing by the four-member Tribunal constituted for the hearing on 21 June 2018.

56. Further, although some time has passed since the hearing, the evidence was substantially documentary. It was not suggested that the acceptance or otherwise of Dr Heartfield’s evidence depended on any aspect of her demeanour which the four-member Tribunal may have forgotten in the interim. In these circumstances there does not appear to be any reason, as long as the four members remain available, for the Tribunal not to be reconstituted for the purposes of concluding the task they began in the hearing of 21 June 2018 but did not complete when they, for the reasons given above, having reserved their decision, did not actually make a decision or publish reasons.

Costs

57. The Board sought its costs of the proceedings on the basis of the general rule that costs follow the event: UCPR, r 42.1. Mr Prince submitted that Ms Linquist’s costs ought be paid by the Board as she acted as a contradictor in the proceedings in this Court and that the Court otherwise would have had no contradictor to the Board.

58. Although Ms Linquist, through Mr Prince, acted as a contradictor, she was not a neutral contradictor. Mr Prince’s arguments, if accepted, would have led to the Amended Decision standing. The Amended Decision reflected the construction for which Ms Linquist contended at the hearing on 21 June 2018 and provided her with a potentially significant forensic advantage since, if the Amended Decision and subsequent directions stand, she will be entitled to adduce further evidence as to the appropriate conditions, which Mr Prince accepted had not been adduced at the hearing on 21 June 2018.

59. I do not accept that the statements in Oshlack v Richmond River Council (1998) 193 CLR 72; [1998] HCA 11 provide any sound basis for a costs order in Ms Linquist’s favour. The errors made by Principal Member Britton were both unfortunate and obvious. They required correction by this Court. Such correction could have occurred without the need for Ms Linquist to appear. Ms Linquist actively opposed the Board’s appeal. It was common ground that, by letter dated 14 March 2019, the Board invited Ms Linquist to file a submitting appearance. Had she done so, she would have incurred fewer, if any, costs. The hearing would have been substantially shorter but for the submissions put on her behalf, which I have rejected. Her involvement has caused the Board to expend considerably more in costs in order to respond to her submissions. In these circumstances, I consider it to be appropriate that Ms Linquist be ordered to pay the Board’s costs.

60. Mr Prince submitted that, if Ms Linquist was ordered to pay the Board’s costs of the proceedings, she ought be granted a certificate pursuant to s 6(1)(a) of the Suitors’ Fund Act 1951 (NSW). This application was not opposed by the Board. Although s 6 refers in terms to “an appeal against a decision of a court”, the word “court” has been construed to include “tribunal” to give effect to the purpose of the Suitors’ Fund Act: Qidwai v Brown [1984] 1 NSWLR 100 at 102 (Hutley JA). Whether a certificate ought be granted in the present case is a matter of discretion: s 6(5). In Mir Bros Developments Pty Ltd v Atlantic Constructions Pty Ltd (1985) 1 NSWLR 491, Kirby P and Samuels JA outlined the applicable principles that guide the interpretation of s 6. Their Honours identified the purpose of the statute as:

“… the relief of a party who incurs or becomes liable for costs not through his own decision or conduct but because of some error of law of the court appealed from. . .”

61. I am satisfied that Ms Linquist is entitled to a certificate under the Suitors’ Fund Act as she did not contribute to the error made by Principal Member Britton.

Orders

62. For the reasons set out above, I make the following orders:

1. Extend the time for filing the summons to 21 December 2018.

2. Allow the appeal.

3. Set aside the decision of Principal Member Britton made on 9 November 2018.

4. Declare that the decision published by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) on 9 November 2018 which purported to be a decision made by the Tribunal constituted by Principal Member Britton, Senior Members Clarke and O’Baugh and General Member Johnston is void.

5. Set aside the directions made by the Tribunal on 23 November 2018 and 13 December 2018.

6. Remit the matter to the Tribunal to be determined in accordance with law by a tribunal constituted by the same members as the Tribunal which conducted the hearing on 21 June 2018.

7. Order the defendant to pay the plaintiff’s costs of the proceedings.

8. Grant a certificate to the defendant under the Suitors’ Fund Act 1951 (NSW).

**********

Decision last updated: 02 August 2019