Porter v Australian Prudential Regulations Authority

In the case of Porter v Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the plaintiff, Mr Porter, sought relief against the Authority's decision to issue a notice requiring compliance within an unreasonably short timeframe. The substantive proceedings began on 7 August 2009, following the issuance of the notice by a delegate of APRA on 3 August 2009. The plaintiff sought an injunction to prevent the Authority from taking any steps in reliance on the notice and was granted interim relief by the court. APRA later consented to set the notice aside, leaving the issue of costs unresolved.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Authority's decision to issue the notice, requiring compliance within two days, was unreasonable. The court found that the lack of evidence regarding the circumstances surrounding the decision, including why a two-day period was deemed appropriate, permitted the inference that the decision was unreasonable. Additionally, the decision by APRA to serve the notice six hours and ten minutes before the compliance deadline was also deemed unreasonable due to the absence of any explanation for the delay. The court found that the failure to provide reasons for these decisions indicated that there were no good reasons for them.

The court held that the Authority's decision to issue the notice with a two-day compliance period was objectively unreasonable, and the decision to serve the notice six hours and ten minutes before the compliance deadline was also unreasonable. The court granted the plaintiff's application for indemnity costs for the substantive proceedings and the urgent application made on 5 August 2009.

The final orders of the court were that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is to pay the costs of the substantive proceedings and the urgent application on an indemnity basis. Additionally, the court directed the Registrar to provide a copy of the reasons for the decision to the chairperson of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.