Williams v Queensland Building and Construction Commission

The appeal arose from proceedings before the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, where Neil Joseph Williams was the appellant and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission was the respondent. Williams sought to challenge a decision of the Commission, and subsequently applied for a stay of the Commission's decision pending the appeal. The Court of Appeal considered whether it was in the interests of justice to award costs in relation to the appeal and the application for stay, given that leave to appeal had been refused and there was a lack of merit in both the appeal and the application for stay.

The court held that it was not in the interests of justice for Williams to bear the full burden of the costs associated with the appeal and the application for stay. The court noted that the statutory authority, primarily funded by members of the industry, would be unduly burdened if it had to respond to an unmeritorious appeal, as this would divert resources away from other important statutory functions. Furthermore, it would not be just for members of the industry to share in the costs of an unmeritorious appeal by one member. Consequently, the court determined that it was appropriate for the Commission to bear a portion of the costs.

The court ordered that Williams was to pay the Commission's costs of the appeal and the application for stay on a standard basis, calculated on the District Court Scale, within 28 days of agreement or assessment. The Commission was directed to deliver an assessment of its costs to Williams by 8 February 2016, with Williams to respond by 8 March 2016. If the parties could not agree on the amount for costs by 15 March 2016, an assessor appointed by the Principal Registrar would determine the costs.