Productivity Partners Pty Ltd (trading as Captain Cook College) ACN 085 570 547 & Anor v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission & Anor; Wills v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission & Ors

Productivity Partners Pty Ltd (trading as Captain Cook College) and Mr Wills (the applicants) sought judicial review of decisions made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Minister for Education (the respondents). The dispute concerned the ACCC's and the Minister's respective decisions to refuse to approve certain VET Student Loans (VSL) courses offered by Captain Cook College and to impose conditions on the approval of other courses. The matter was heard by the Full Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the ACCC and the Minister had acted unlawfully in refusing to approve the VSL courses and in imposing conditions on other approved courses. Specifically, the applicants contended that the ACCC had failed to consider relevant matters and had taken into account irrelevant considerations when making its recommendations to the Minister, and that the Minister had similarly erred in his decision-making process. The court was asked to determine if these decisions were affected by jurisdictional error.

The Full Federal Court found that the ACCC and the Minister had not committed jurisdictional error. The court reasoned that the ACCC's recommendations and the Minister's decisions were based on a proper consideration of the relevant legislative framework, including the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (Cth) and associated Rules. The court held that the ACCC was entitled to consider the financial viability and sustainability of the courses, as well as the quality of education provided, when making its recommendations. Similarly, the Minister was entitled to consider these factors, along with the public interest, when making his final decisions. The court affirmed that the decision-making powers conferred by the legislation allowed for a broad assessment of the matters relevant to the approval of VSL courses.

The applications for judicial review were dismissed.