Schedule 1B Inquiries by the Board
(Section 29A)
1 Board may hold inquiry into eligibility
(1) The Board may hold an inquiry, in such cases as it considers appropriate, into the eligibility of an applicant to be registered or enrolled.(2) The inquiry may include an inquiry into the applicant’s competence to practise nursing or midwifery.
2 Commission to be notified of inquiry
(1) The Board must give the Commission at least 7 days’ notice in writing before the Board holds an inquiry under this Schedule.(2) The Commission may appear and be heard at an inquiry under this Schedule.
3 Applicant to be notified of inquiry
The President is to fix a time and place for the holding of an inquiry and is to cause the applicant concerned to be given at least 14 days’ notice in writing of the time and place for the inquiry.
4 Powers etc of the Board in an inquiry
For the purposes of an inquiry conducted by the Board under this Schedule, the Board has the same functions that the Tribunal has under this Act. However, proceedings on an inquiry conducted by the Board are not to be open to the public.
5 Applicant entitled to attend
(1) The person in relation to whom an inquiry is being held is entitled to attend and to be accompanied by an Australian lawyer or another adviser, but is not entitled to be represented by an Australian lawyer or other adviser.(2) This clause does not prevent the Board from proceeding with an inquiry in the absence of the applicant so long as the applicant has been given notice of the inquiry in accordance with clause 3.
6 Provisions concerning witnesses etc
Schedule 2 applies to and in respect of a person or witness appearing or evidence given at an inquiry in the same way as it applies to a person or witness appearing or evidence given before the Tribunal.
7 Constitution of Board for inquiry
(1) If the Board decides to hold an inquiry, the Board is to appoint 3 persons to conduct the inquiry.(2) The persons appointed to conduct the inquiry need not be members of the Board.(3) The persons appointed to conduct an inquiry are taken to be members of the Board and to constitute the Board for the purposes of the inquiry and, accordingly, may exercise the functions of the Board in relation to the inquiry.
8 Director-General may intervene at inquiry
The Director-General may intervene in any inquiry before the Board and is entitled to be heard personally or by being represented by an officer of the Department of Health.
9 Preliminary examinations of applicants
(1) Before or during an inquiry under this Schedule, the Board may require the applicant, by notice in writing given personally or by post to the applicant, to undergo at the Board’s expense an examination by a registered health practitioner specified in the notice, at any reasonable time and place so specified.(2) A failure by an applicant, without reasonable cause, to comply with such a notice is, for the purposes of this Schedule (including any inquiry or appeal under this Act), evidence that the applicant does not have sufficient physical and mental capacity to practise nursing or midwifery.
10 Decisions of the Board in an inquiry
A decision supported by at least 2 of the 3 persons appointed to conduct an inquiry under this Schedule on an inquiry, or on any question arising during an inquiry, is a decision of the Board.
11 Details of decision to be supplied to applicant
(1) The Board must provide a written statement of a decision on an inquiry to the person in relation to whom the inquiry was held and must do so within one month after the decision is made.(2) The statement of a decision must:(a) give the reasons for the decision, and(b) include information about any appeal rights the person has under section 32.(3) The Board may also provide the statement of a decision to such other persons as the Board thinks fit.
12 Statement need not contain confidential information
(1) The Board is not required to include confidential information in the statement of a decision. If a statement would be false or misleading if it did not include the confidential information, the Board is not required to provide the statement.(2) When confidential information is not included in the statement of a decision provided to a person or the statement is not provided to a person because of subclause (1), the Board must give a confidential information notice to the person.(3) A confidential information notice is a notice that indicates that confidential information is not included or that the statement will not be provided (as appropriate) and gives the reasons for this. The notice must be in writing and must be given within one month after the decision is made.(4) This clause does not affect the power of a court to make an order for the discovery of documents or to require the giving of evidence or the production of documents to a court.(5) In this clause:confidential information means information that:
(a) has not previously been published or made available to the public when a written statement of a decision to which it is or may be relevant is being prepared, and(b) relates to the personal or business affairs of a person, other than a person to whom the Board is required (or would, but for subclause (1), be required) to provide a written statement of a decision, and(c) is information:(i) that was supplied in confidence, or(ii) the publication of which would reveal a trade secret, or(iii) that was provided in compliance with a duty imposed by an enactment, or(iv) the provision of which by the Board would be in breach of any enactment.