A person may, in the manner and within the time prescribed by or under the enactment under which the application is made, apply to the Tribunal to have a matter dealt with.
25 Notice of application to be served on other parties
(1) The Registrar must cause notice of an application to the Tribunal to be served on each party (other than the applicant) to the proceedings within such time and in such manner as the Chairperson directs.(2) It is sufficient compliance with this section if:(a) the Registrar directs a party to the proceedings to serve notice of the application on another party on the Registrar’s behalf, and(b) notice is served on the other party in accordance with the Chairperson’s directions referred to in subsection (1).
25A Notice of hearing to be served in certain cases
(1) If a person who is a party to proceedings before the Tribunal:(a) is a protected person within the meaning of the Protected Estates Act 1983, or(b) has a guardian, or(c) is both a protected person and a person who has a guardian,the Registrar must cause notice of the proceedings to be given to the Protective Commissioner, any guardian of the person, any other person the Registrar considers appropriate and any other person prescribed for the purposes of this section.(2) However, if the application giving rise to the proceedings was lodged by the Protective Commissioner or the party’s guardian, notice is not required to be given to that person.(3) The Tribunal may cause notice of proceedings to be given to such persons as it thinks fit.
(1) If a party to proceedings before the Tribunal has a right to proceed against 2 or more persons having joint liability, it is sufficient if any one or more of those persons is or are served with process in the proceedings, and a decision in the proceedings may be given or entered up and enforced against the person or persons subject to the liability.(2) Section 97 (Joint liability) of the Supreme Court Act 1970 applies to and in respect of a decision given or entered up in proceedings before the Tribunal in the same way as it applies to and in respect of a judgment given in proceedings before the Supreme Court.(3) If, at any time before or during proceedings before it, the Tribunal is of the opinion that a person ought to be joined as a party to the proceedings, the Tribunal may, by notice in writing given to the person or by oral direction given during proceedings, join the person as a party to the proceedings.
(1) This section applies in relation to proceedings before the Tribunal where the Tribunal is constituted for the purposes of those proceedings by two or three members.(2) If the Chairperson is one of the members of the Tribunal as constituted for the purposes of the proceedings, the Chairperson is to preside at the proceedings.(3) If the Tribunal as constituted for the purposes of the proceedings does not include the Chairperson but includes a Deputy Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson is to preside at the proceedings.(4) If the Tribunal as constituted for the purposes of the proceedings:(a) does not include the Chairperson or a Deputy Chairperson, and(b) includes one, and only one, senior member,the senior member is to preside at the proceedings.(5) If none of subsections (2)–(4) applies, the Chairperson is to designate one of the members who constitute the Tribunal for the purposes of the proceedings as the member who is to preside at the proceedings.
27 Procedure of Tribunal generally
(1) The Tribunal may, subject to this Act, determine its own procedure.(2) The Tribunal is not bound by the rules of evidence and may inquire into and inform itself on any matter in such manner as it thinks fit, subject to the rules of natural justice.(3) The Tribunal is to act with as little formality as the circumstances of the case permit and according to equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case without regard to technicalities or legal forms.(4) The Tribunal is to take such measures as are reasonably practicable to ensure that the parties to the proceedings before it understand:(a) the nature of the assertions made in the proceedings and the legal implications of those assertions, and(b) the procedure of the Tribunal and any decision or ruling made by the Tribunal that relates to the proceedings.(5) The Tribunal:(a) is to act as expeditiously as is practicable, and(b) is to ensure, as far as practicable, that all relevant material is disclosed to the Tribunal so as to enable it to determine all of the relevant facts in issue in any proceedings, and(c) may require evidence or argument to be presented in writing and decide on the matters on which it will hear oral evidence or argument, and(d) in the case of a hearing—may require the presentation of the respective cases of the parties before it to be limited to the periods of time that it determines are reasonably necessary for the fair and adequate presentation of the cases, and(e) may require a document to be served outside the State, and(f) may adjourn proceedings to any time and place (including for the purpose of enabling the parties to negotiate a settlement), and(g) may dismiss at any stage any proceedings before it for want of prosecution by the applicant (and must, at the applicant’s request, allow the applicant to withdraw the application), and(h) may dismiss at any stage any proceedings before it if it considers the proceedings to be frivolous or vexatious or for any other reason that appears to it sufficient, and(i) may, at any stage in proceedings before it, order that the proceedings be stayed.(6) The Registrar or Deputy Registrar is to give to any party to proceedings that have been stayed under subsection (5) (i), and who was not present or represented when the proceedings were stayed, a notice that the proceedings are stayed.
The Tribunal or the Registrar may, in respect of any proceedings or proposed proceedings before the Tribunal, request a report or other assistance from the Director-General of the Department of Fair Trading or any other person or body.
(1) Subject to any directions of the Chairperson, the member of the Tribunal who presides, or is to preside, at proceedings before the Tribunal may, at a directions hearing held for the purpose or otherwise, give directions relating to procedure that, in the opinion of the member, will enable costs to be reduced and will help to achieve a prompt hearing of the matters in issue between the parties to the proceedings.(2) The powers conferred by subsection (1) extend to enabling the presiding member, if it appears just and expedient to do so, to direct that several matters that are in some manner associated are to be heard and determined together.(3) The functions of a member of the Tribunal under this section may, to the extent prescribed by the regulations, be delegated to the Registrar.
29 Amendments and irregularities
(1) The Tribunal may, in any proceedings before it, make any amendments to any document filed in connection with the proceedings that the Tribunal considers to be necessary in the interests of justice.(2) Any such amendment may be made:(a) at any stage of the proceedings (including the commencement or purported commencement of proceedings), and(b) on such terms as the Tribunal thinks fit (including, subject to this Act, terms as to costs).(3) If a provision of this Act or the regulations is not complied with in relation to the commencement (or purported commencement) of proceedings or conduct of proceedings before the Tribunal, the failure to comply is to be treated as an irregularity and does not nullify the proceedings, any step taken in the proceedings or any decision in the proceedings unless the Tribunal otherwise determines.(4) The Tribunal may, however, in dealing with any such irregularity, wholly or partly set aside the proceedings, a step taken in the proceedings or a decision in the proceedings.
30 Proceedings on hearing to be conducted in public
(1) If proceedings before the Tribunal are to be determined by a hearing, the hearing is to be open to the public, except as provided by this section.(2) If the Tribunal is satisfied that it is desirable to do so by reason of the confidential nature of any evidence or matter or for any other reason, it may make any one or more of the following orders:(a) an order that the hearing be conducted wholly or partly in private,(b) an order prohibiting or restricting the publication of the names and addresses of witnesses appearing before the Tribunal,(c) an order prohibiting or restricting the publication of evidence given before the Tribunal, whether in public or in private, or of matters contained in documents lodged with the Tribunal or received in evidence by the Tribunal,(d) an order prohibiting or restricting the disclosure to some or all of the parties to the proceedings of evidence given before the Tribunal, or of the contents of a document lodged with the Tribunal or received in evidence by the Tribunal, in relation to the proceedings.
31 Circumstances in which hearing may be dispensed with
(1) The Tribunal may, with the consent of the parties to any proceedings before it, determine the proceedings by considering the documents or other material lodged with or provided to the Tribunal and without holding a hearing, if it appears to the Tribunal that the issues for determination can be adequately determined in the absence of the parties.(2) The regulations may prescribe classes of matters or circumstances in which the consent referred to in subsection (1) may be dispensed with.
32 Opportunity for parties to present case
The Tribunal must ensure that every party to proceedings before the Tribunal is given a reasonable opportunity:(a) to adduce evidence and otherwise present the party’s case (whether at a hearing or otherwise), and(b) to make submissions in relation to the issues in the proceedings.
(1) Except to the extent that the Tribunal, in accordance with the regulations, otherwise orders, a party to proceedings before the Tribunal has the carriage of his or her own case, and is not entitled to be represented.(2) If, however, a party to the proceedings has been granted legal assistance under Division 2 of Part 2 of the Fair Trading Act 1987, the parties to the proceedings are entitled to be represented by a legal practitioner.(3) A party to proceedings may, in accordance with the regulations, apply to the Tribunal for permission to be represented in the proceedings or in part of the proceedings.(4) Except as otherwise provided by the regulations, no person other than a legal practitioner is entitled to demand or receive any fee or reward for representing a party in proceedings before the Tribunal.(5) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Tribunal may appoint any other person it thinks fit to represent a party who appears to the Tribunal to be an incapacitated person.(6) In this section:incapacitated person means:
(a) a minor, or(b) a person who is totally or partially incapable of representing himself or herself in proceedings before the Tribunal because the person is intellectually, physically, psychologically or sensorily disabled, of advanced age, a mentally incapacitated person or otherwise disabled, or(c) any other person of a class prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.
(1) A person appearing before the Tribunal to give evidence, or participating in any alternative dispute resolution procedure under Part 5, may request the Tribunal to appoint an interpreter for the purposes of communication between the Tribunal and the person.(2) The Tribunal must comply with a request made by a person under this section unless it considers that the person is sufficiently proficient in spoken English.(3) If the Tribunal considers that a person appearing before it to give evidence is not sufficiently proficient in spoken English, the Tribunal must appoint an interpreter for the purposes of communication between the Tribunal and the person, even though the person has not made a request under this section.(4) In this section, interpreter includes a person who interprets signs or other things made or done by a person who cannot speak adequately for the purposes of giving evidence in proceedings.
35 Oral evidence by telephone etc
(1) The Tribunal may allow a person to appear before the Tribunal, or to give evidence, and may conduct any aspect of proceedings before it, by telephone or closed-circuit television or by any other means of communication.(2) If, when proceedings are held in public, a person appears or gives evidence by a means allowed under subsection (1), the Tribunal must take such steps as are reasonably necessary to ensure that the public nature of the proceedings is preserved and that the rights of parties to the proceedings are not prejudiced.
36 Powers in relation to witnesses
(1) The Tribunal may:(a) call any witness of its own motion, and(b) examine any witness on oath, or by use of a statutory declaration, and(c) examine or cross-examine any witness to such extent as the Tribunal thinks proper in order to elicit information relevant to the exercise of the functions of the Tribunal in any proceedings, and(d) compel any witness to answer questions which the Tribunal considers to be relevant in any proceedings before it.(2) If the Tribunal decides to call a person as a witness under subsection (1) (a), the Tribunal may:(a) seek to procure the voluntary attendance of the witness before it by notifying the person in such manner as it thinks appropriate in the circumstances, or(b) issue a summons to compel the attendance of the person before it.(3) Nothing in subsection (1) enables the Tribunal to compel a witness to answer a question if the witness has a reasonable excuse for refusing to answer the question.
(1) A summons for the purposes of this Act may be issued by the Registrar:(a) on the application of a party to the proceedings, or(b) at the direction of the Tribunal.(1A) The fee prescribed by the regulations is payable for the issue of a summons on the application of a party to the proceedings.(2) Such a summons must be signed by the Registrar or as otherwise prescribed by the regulations and may require the person to whom it is addressed:(a) to attend and give evidence, or(b) to attend and produce documents or other things,or both.(3) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to excusing, in prescribed circumstances, a person who produces documents or other things in answer to a summons from attendance at the Tribunal.(4) A person who, without lawful excuse, fails to comply with the requirements of a summons is guilty of an offence.Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.
(5) A summons may be served within or outside the State.
(1) If any person served with a summons to attend before the Tribunal fails to comply with the summons, the Chairperson or a Deputy Chairperson may, on proof of the service of the summons and of the tender to the person served of an amount in respect of the reasonable expenses of complying with its requirements, issue to such person as the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson appoints a warrant for the apprehension of that person.(2) A warrant issued under subsection (1) authorises the apprehension of the witness, the bringing of the witness before the Tribunal and the detention of the witness in custody for that purpose until released by order of the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson or the Supreme Court.(3) The apprehension of any witness under this section does not relieve the witness from any liability incurred by reason of non-compliance with a summons to attend before the Tribunal.
(1) A person is guilty of contempt of the Tribunal if:(a) the person fails to attend in obedience to a summons after having been served with a summons to attend before the Tribunal as a witness, or(b) the person fails to produce any document or other thing in the person’s custody or control that the person is required by a summons to produce after having been served with a summons to attend before the Tribunal, or(c) the person refuses to be sworn or to make an affirmation or refuses or otherwise fails to answer any question that is put to the person by the Tribunal after being called or examined as a witness before the Tribunal, or(d) the person wilfully threatens or insults:(i) a member, assessor or officer of the Tribunal, or(ii) any witness or person summoned to attend before the Tribunal, or(iii) a practising legal practitioner or other person authorised to appear before the Tribunal, or(e) the person misbehaves himself or herself before the Tribunal, or(f) the person interrupts the proceedings of the Tribunal, or(g) the person obstructs or attempts to obstruct the Tribunal, a member of the Tribunal or a person acting with the authority of the Tribunal in the exercise of any lawful function, or(h) the person publishes, or permits or allows to be published, any evidence given before the Tribunal or any of the contents of a document produced at a hearing that the Tribunal has ordered not to be published, or(i) the person publishes, or permits or allows to be published, any evidence given before the Tribunal at a hearing held in private or any of the contents of a document produced at a hearing held in private, except to an officer or member of the Tribunal or as permitted by the Tribunal or by the regulations, or(j) the person does any other thing that, if the Tribunal were a court of law having power to commit for contempt, would be contempt of that court,unless the person establishes that there was a reasonable excuse for the act or omission concerned.(2) The provisions of sections 152 and 152A of the Justices Act 1902 apply to and in respect of contempt of the Tribunal, when constituted by (or by members that include) the Chairperson or a Deputy Chairperson, in the same way as they apply to and in respect of contempt of a Local Court presided over by a Magistrate.
40 Protection of practising legal practitioners, witnesses and others
(1) A practising legal practitioner or other person appearing before the Tribunal on behalf of a party has the same protection and immunity as a barrister has in appearing for a party in proceedings in the Supreme Court.(2) Subject to this Act, a person summoned to attend or appearing before the Tribunal as a witness has the same protection, and is, in addition to the penalties provided by this Act, subject to the same liabilities, as a witness in proceedings in the Supreme Court.
41 Tribunal divided in opinion
(1) If the Tribunal is constituted by more than one member for the purposes of the determination of any proceedings and the members are divided in opinion, the opinion of a majority is taken to be the decision of the Tribunal.(2) However, a question of law (including the question whether a particular question is a question of law) arising in proceedings constituted by more than one member is to be decided in accordance with the opinion of the member presiding at the proceedings.(3) If, on a matter other than a question of law, opinion is equally divided, the opinion of the presiding member is taken to be the decision of the Tribunal.
42 Tribunal may reserve decision
(1) The Tribunal may reserve its decision in any proceedings before it.(2) A reserved decision of a member or members of the Tribunal may be given:(a) by the member or members at a subsequent sitting of the Tribunal, or(b) if the decision of a member is set out in writing and signed by the member:(i) by being delivered by a member of the Tribunal, or(ii) by being delivered by the Registrar, at a time and place of which the parties have been given reasonable notice, or(iii) by publication to the parties in a manner approved by the Chairperson.
A power of the Tribunal to make an order or other decision includes a power to make the order or other decision subject to such conditions (including exemptions) as the Tribunal specifies when making the order or other decision, except as may be provided to the contrary by any other Act.
44 Powers when proceedings settled
(1) The Tribunal may, at any stage of proceedings before it, make such orders (including an order dismissing the application that is the subject of the proceedings) as it thinks fit to give effect to any agreed settlement reached by the parties to the proceedings if:(a) the terms of the agreed settlement are reduced to writing, signed by or on behalf of the parties and lodged with the Tribunal, and(b) the Tribunal is satisfied that it would have the power to make a decision in the terms of the agreed settlement or in terms that are consistent with the terms of the agreed settlement.(2) The Tribunal may dismiss the application that is the subject of the proceedings if it is not satisfied that it would have the power to make a decision in the terms of the agreed settlement or in terms consistent with the terms of the agreed settlement.
45 Service of notice of decisions of Tribunal
(1) The Tribunal must, within the time prescribed by the regulations, give notice of its decision in a matter to the parties to the proceedings.(2) If the regulations so require (or if a party to the proceedings, within the time and in the manner prescribed by the regulations, requests the Tribunal to do so), the Tribunal must also prepare a written statement of reasons for its decision. The statement may be brief, but must:(a) set out the decision and the reasons for it, and(b) set out the findings on any material question of fact, and(c) refer to the evidence or any other material on which the findings of fact were based.(3) The Tribunal is to cause a copy of any statement prepared under subsection (2) to be served on each party to the proceedings within the prescribed time after the decision concerned was made.
46 Power to correct decisions of Tribunal
(1) If, after the making of a decision by the Tribunal, the Tribunal is satisfied that there is an obvious error in the text of a notice of the decision or a written statement of reasons for the decision, the Tribunal may direct the Registrar to alter the text of the notice or statement in accordance with the directions of the Tribunal.(2) If the text of a notice or statement is so altered, the altered text is taken to be the notice of the Tribunal’s decision or the statement of its reasons, as the case may be, and notice of the alteration is to be given to the parties to the proceedings in such manner as the Chairperson may direct.(3) Examples of obvious errors in the text of a notice of a decision or a statement of reasons for a decision are where:(a) there is an obvious clerical or typographical error in the text of the notice or statement, or(b) there is an error arising from an accidental slip or omission, or(c) there is a defect of form, or(d) there is an inconsistency between the stated decision and the stated reasons.(4) The powers of the Tribunal under this section may be exercised by the Chairperson or by the senior member who presided at the proceedings to which the decision relates.
47 Recovery of amounts ordered to be paid (other than penalties)
(1) For the purposes of the recovery of any amount ordered to be paid by the Tribunal (including costs, but not including a civil or other penalty), the amount is to be certified by the Registrar.(2) A certificate given under this section must identify the person liable to pay the certified amount.(3) A certificate of the Registrar that:(a) is given under this section, and(b) is filed in the registry of a court having jurisdiction to give judgment for a debt of the same amount as the amount stated in the certificate,operates as such a judgment.
47A Compliance with order of Tribunal
A person must not wilfully contravene or fail to comply with an order of the Tribunal made under any Act (not being an order for the payment of an amount of money or an order under section 52 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1987).Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or 12 months’ imprisonment or both.
(1) The parties to a matter before the Tribunal are to bear their own costs, except as provided by this section.(2) Except to the extent that the regulations otherwise provide, the Tribunal may award costs in relation to proceedings before it where the parties were granted the right to legal representation.(3) The Tribunal may also award costs in relation to proceedings before it:(a) in respect of expenses incurred by a party in being represented by an agent in accordance with section 33 (3), or(b) in respect of expenses incurred in a manner or in circumstances prescribed by the regulations, or(c) in respect of any particular expenses, if it is satisfied that there are special circumstances warranting an award of costs in respect of them.(4) The Tribunal may:(a) determine by whom and to what extent costs are to be paid, and(b) order costs to be assessed on the basis set out in Division 6 of Part 11 of the Legal Profession Act 1987 or on any other basis.(5) In this section, costs includes:(a) costs of or incidental to proceedings in the Tribunal, and(b) the costs of or incidental to the application.