Quirky Mama Productions Pty Ltd (Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement) and Screen Australia (Taxation)

Quirky Mama Productions Pty Ltd, which was subject to a Deed of Company Arrangement, sought a correction of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning the amount of qualifying Australian production expenditure (QAPE). Screen Australia was the other party involved. The dispute centred on an inconsistency between the Tribunal's written reasons and the operative part of its decision.

The primary legal issue before Deputy President McCabe was whether the Tribunal had the power, and if so, whether it was appropriate, to exercise its discretion under section 43AA of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) to alter the text of its decision to resolve an inconsistency with its stated reasons.

Deputy President McCabe reasoned that section 43AA of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) grants the Tribunal the power to correct a clerical mistake or an error arising from an accidental slip or omission in its decision. His Honour was satisfied that an inconsistency between the operative part of a decision and the written reasons constituted such an error. The Deputy President concluded that it was proper to exercise this power to ensure the decision accurately reflected the Tribunal's stated findings regarding the QAPE.

Consequently, the Deputy President directed the Registrar to alter the text of the decision to resolve the inconsistency, so that the decision would state that the Tribunal varies the decision under review such that the amount of qualifying Australian production expenditure is $9,920,738.