Pearce v Rummery

The Pearce v Rummery case involved an appellant seeking to appeal a decision made by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). The appellant, who had been found to have breached the Tribunal's directions, was seeking to set aside a default decision. The respondent argued that the appellant had not provided sufficient evidence in support of her defence. The appellant's application for leave to appeal was subsequently dismissed.

The legal issues that the court had to decide included whether the appellant's application for leave to appeal could be considered without the evidence that was not before the Tribunal and whether the appellant had breached the Tribunal's directions. Additionally, the court had to determine whether the appellant could rely on evidence that had not been presented to the Tribunal in support of her application to set aside the default decision.

The court found that the appellant's application for leave to appeal was dismissed unless she filed and served an application for leave to rely on additional evidence on appeal. This application had to be supported by an affidavit personally signed by the appellant, setting out the additional evidence on which she sought to rely on appeal and explaining why it was not put before the Tribunal in support of the application to set aside the default decision. If such an application was filed and served within 28 days of the decision, the respondent could file and serve any additional submissions or material in response within 21 days after being served with the application and supporting evidence. The application for leave to appeal and the application for leave to rely on additional evidence on appeal would then be determined by the Appeal Tribunal on the papers on a date to be fixed.