Wilson v Chan & Naylor Parramatta Pty Ltd atf Chan & Naylor Parramatta Trust

The applicant, Wilson, sought leave to appeal from decisions of the Appeal Panel of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) and a Senior Member of NCAT concerning costs orders made against him. The primary dispute revolved around whether NCAT possessed the power to make such costs orders in proceedings that involved the application of federal law. The appeal was heard by Leeming and White JJA in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether NCAT had the statutory power to make costs orders in proceedings that were based on federal law, even though this specific question of power was not raised at the initial hearing. The Court was required to determine if the Appeal Panel and the Senior Member had acted within their jurisdiction when ordering the applicant to pay the first respondent's costs of the NCAT appeal and the earlier NCAT proceedings.

The Court granted leave to appeal, but confined it strictly to the question of NCAT's power to make the specific costs orders in question. The reasoning for granting leave, despite the issue not being raised at first instance, was that the question would inevitably arise between the same parties upon enforcement of the costs orders. The Court found no other grounds that warranted the grant of leave. Consequently, the summons seeking leave to appeal was otherwise dismissed, with the costs of the summons to be costs in the appeal.