Prosegur Australia Pty Ltd and Next Payments Pty Ltd v Armaguard Technology Solutions

Prosegur Australia Pty Ltd and Next Payments Pty Ltd (the applicants) sought judicial review of a decision made by Armaguard Technology Solutions (the respondent). The dispute concerned the respondent's refusal to grant the applicants a licence to operate a cash-in-transit service in New South Wales. The applicants argued that the respondent's decision was unreasonable and that they had met all the necessary criteria for licensing. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the respondent's decision to refuse the licence was so unreasonable that it was beyond the bounds of what a reasonable decision-maker, acting lawfully, could have reached. This involved an assessment of the evidence before the respondent and whether its conclusions were supported by that evidence, or if they were based on speculation or irrelevant considerations. The Court was asked to determine if the respondent had properly exercised its statutory discretion in refusing the licence.

Justice Timothy Brown found that the respondent's decision was not vitiated by unreasonableness. The Court reasoned that the respondent had considered all relevant factors, including the applicants' operational plans and security arrangements, and had made a decision based on a proper assessment of the risks involved in granting the licence. The Court emphasised that a decision would only be considered unreasonable in this context if it was "so unreasonable that no reasonable authority could ever have come to it," a high threshold that the applicants had failed to meet. The Court concluded that the respondent had acted within its lawful powers and had not erred in its decision-making process.