Quach v New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission

In *Quach v New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an application for judicial review of a decision by the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to deregister a medical practitioner. The practitioner, Dr. Quach, sought to challenge NCAT's decision on several grounds, including allegations of jurisdictional error.

The legal issues before the Court of Appeal included whether NCAT had been properly constituted by the appointment of an acting judge of the District Court as a member, whether a conflict of interest existed for that judicial member, and whether the proceedings had denied Dr. Quach procedural fairness. Specifically, the court examined whether NCAT's questioning of witnesses or its acceptance of opinion evidence from a general practitioner constituted a denial of procedural fairness, and whether apprehended bias was disclosed by various procedural rulings made by NCAT. The significance of Dr. Quach's failure to exercise his right of appeal was also a consideration.

The Court of Appeal found that none of the grounds of review were made out. The court reasoned that the appointment of the acting judge was valid and that no conflict of interest or apprehended bias had been established. Furthermore, the court concluded that the procedural steps taken by NCAT did not amount to a denial of procedural fairness. Consequently, the court dismissed the practitioner's application for judicial review. The orders reflected the dismissal of various summonses and notices of motion filed by the practitioner, with costs ordered in favour of the Health Care Complaints Commission in relation to specific applications.