Peacock v Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Peacock (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (the respondent) to dismiss his complaint of unlawful discrimination. The applicant alleged that he had been unlawfully discriminated against on the grounds of his homosexuality and his status as a person with a disability, contrary to the *Disability Discrimination Act 1992* (Cth) and the *Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986* (Cth). The Commission had dismissed the complaint on the basis that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the complaint, finding that the alleged discriminatory acts occurred outside the relevant time limits prescribed by the legislation. The matter came before the Full Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the Commission had erred in law in its determination that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the applicant's complaint. This involved considering the proper interpretation of the time limitations for lodging a complaint under the relevant Commonwealth legislation and whether the Commission had correctly applied these provisions to the facts as presented by the applicant. The Court also had to consider whether the Commission had adequately considered the applicant's reasons for the delay in lodging his complaint.

The Full Federal Court held that the Commission had made an error of law in dismissing the complaint. Their Honours found that the Commission had adopted an overly restrictive approach to the interpretation of the statutory time limits. The Court emphasised that the legislation conferred a broad discretion on the Commission to extend time limits where it considered it "just and reasonable" to do so. The Court concluded that the Commission had failed to properly exercise this discretion, having not given sufficient weight to the applicant's explanations for the delay, which included his mental health condition and his belief that the matter was being dealt with by other avenues. The Court found that the Commission's decision was therefore based on an incorrect application of the law.

The Full Federal Court set aside the decision of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and remitted the matter to the Commission for reconsideration according to law.