Quach v Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales

In Quach v Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales, the plaintiff sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of New South Wales against the decision of the Appeal Panel of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) which had dismissed his appeal from a decision of the Occupational Division of NCAT. The plaintiff argued that the Appeal Panel was incorrectly constituted and that the order of the Court of Appeal under the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008 (NSW) prohibiting him from instituting proceedings should be stayed due to the appeal. The plaintiff also claimed that the President of the NCAT who had been involved in the decisions appealed against should have been recused on the basis of apprehended bias.

The primary legal issues were whether the plaintiff had the right to appeal to the Supreme Court from the decision of the Appeal Panel and whether the Appeal Panel was correctly constituted. Furthermore, it was necessary to determine if the order of the Court of Appeal should be stayed because of the appeal and whether there was apprehended bias on the part of the President of the NCAT.

The court found that there was no right of appeal from a decision of the Occupational Division to the Appeal Panel of NCAT, hence the plaintiff's purported appeal was invalid. The court also held that the Appeal Panel did not have to be constituted in accordance with section 165B of the Health Practitioners Regulation National Law (NSW) because the plaintiff did not have the right to appeal to the Appeal Panel. Regarding the order of the Court of Appeal, the court determined that there was no basis for staying it because of the appeal. Lastly, the court concluded that the mere fact that the President of NCAT was involved in the decisions appealed against did not justify a conclusion that there was apprehended bias.

The court dismissed the plaintiff's appeal and ordered that the proceedings be formally recorded as dismissed under the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008 (NSW).