TJR v The Public Trustee of Queensland and GCB

TJR brought an appeal against the Public Trustee of Queensland, contesting the suspension order that removed him as an administrator. The dispute was heard in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The core issue in this case was whether the Tribunal member had erred in law by failing to provide TJR with procedural fairness by not giving him notice of the hearing, which he claimed led to the unjust removal of his position as an administrator.

The court needed to determine if the member's decision to not provide notice or to take urgent action was adequately justified. The Appeal Tribunal found that the member did not disclose sufficient reasons to not provide notice to TJR or to undertake urgent action, which was a significant error. The court also considered if TJR's right to procedural fairness was compromised by the lack of notice.

The appeal was granted and the original decision was set aside. The Tribunal ruled that the suspension and postponement orders were not properly made. The court ordered that the applicant file written submissions regarding his application for costs by a specific date, and similarly, the respondents were to file their submissions by another date. The final determination of the application for costs was to be made on the papers without an oral hearing after the specified date.