Ramsay Health Care Australia Limited v President, Australian Human Rights Commission

In the Federal Court of Australia, Ramsay Health Care Australia Limited challenged a decision by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to terminate a complaint against it, Ms Gaye Billingsley, and Ms Shwe Yamon Tun. The complainant, who had filed the complaint under various federal discrimination laws, alleged a series of discriminatory incidents spanning his employment with Ramsay from 2006 to 2021. Ramsay, along with the other respondents, argued that the AHRC's delegate improperly terminated the complaint without considering whether termination under discretionary grounds was warranted. Specifically, they argued that the delegate should have evaluated whether termination under s 46PH(1)(b) or (c) was appropriate, given the age of the allegations and the nature of the complaint as a continuum of conduct.

The court considered whether the delegate had an ongoing obligation to evaluate discretionary termination grounds under s 46PH(1) despite finding that the complaint could be terminated under s 46PH(1B)(b). The court held that there was no obligation to continue evaluating discretionary grounds once the delegate had grounds to terminate the complaint under s 46PH(1B)(b). Furthermore, the court found that there was no requirement for the delegate to provide reasons for not terminating the complaint under discretionary grounds, as the statutory obligation to give reasons only applied to decisions to terminate the complaint. The court concluded that the delegate had not committed a jurisdictional error in not considering discretionary termination grounds, nor had the delegate breached procedural fairness by not providing certain documents or addressing submissions on delay.

The court dismissed Ramsay's application for judicial review, finding that the delegate's decision to terminate the complaint was lawful and appropriately reasoned. The court ordered that the application be dismissed and outlined a process for determining costs between the parties involved.