The Chief Executive, Department of Justice and Attorney General v Crampton Automotive Pty Ltd t/as Toowoomba Holden, Mark Crampton, Noel Roser, Ross Crampton, Gary Smeeton

The Chief Executive of the Department of Justice and Attorney General sought to have a decision of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal set aside in relation to a claim against a fund established under the Personal Motor Vehicle Accident Damages Act 2009 (PAMDA). The fund was established to facilitate the payment of damages for motor vehicle accident victims. Gary Smeeton applied to the tribunal for an extension of time in which to lodge a claim against the fund. The tribunal treated the application for an extension of time as a review of the Chief Executive’s opinion and substituted the Chief Executive as respondent to the application. The Chief Executive sought to set aside the tribunal’s decision on the basis that the tribunal erred in concluding that the application was made within time and in naming the respondents to the application.

The primary issue for the court was whether the tribunal erred in concluding that the application for an extension of time was made within time. The court held that the tribunal did not have the power to review the Chief Executive’s opinion on the basis that the application for an extension of time was made within time. The tribunal’s substitution of the Chief Executive as respondent to the application was therefore improper. The court also held that the tribunal should have named the original respondents to the application, being the other defendants in the claim against the fund, as the respondents to the application for an extension of time.

The court set aside the decision of the tribunal and reinstated the original respondents as respondents to the application for an extension of time. The court removed the Chief Executive as a respondent to the application. The court referred the claim against the fund lodged by Mr Smeeton to the Chief Executive for the purposes of sections 474 to 477 of the PAMDA. In the alternative, the court extended the time in which Mr Smeeton may lodge a claim against the fund to 24 May 2012.