Background
The State of Queensland, as owner of premises rented by Magdy Bibawi and managed by Moreton Bay Housing Service, issued Mr Bibawi a notice to remedy an alleged breach of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld). The notice alleged interference with a neighbour’s reasonable peace, comfort or privacy. Mr Bibawi applied to QCAT to have the notice set aside.
QCAT dismissed that application after finding the notice had been properly issued. Mr Bibawi then sought leave to appeal and a stay. The QCAT Appeal Tribunal refused the stay, but a later-issued coversheet and formal order mistakenly stated that leave to appeal had been refused. The Tribunal corrected that administrative error, substituting the order actually made: refusal of the stay application.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeal held that QCAT validly corrected the erroneous order under s 135 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld). The incorrect statement that leave to appeal had been refused was a clerical mistake or an accidental slip or omission. The reasons concerned only the refusal of a stay and supplied no basis to decide the leave application.
Once corrected, there was no QCAT Appeal Tribunal decision refusing Mr Bibawi leave to appeal. Nor was the refusal of a stay a final appeal decision, or a cost-amount decision, from which an appeal lay to the Court of Appeal. The Court therefore struck out Mr Bibawi’s amended application for leave to appeal for want of jurisdiction and made no costs order.
Key Takeaways
- QCAT may correct an order containing a clerical error or accidental slip under s 135 of the QCAT Act.
- A mistaken coversheet or formal order does not create a substantive decision unsupported by the Tribunal’s reasons.
- The Court of Appeal’s appellate jurisdiction over QCAT Appeal Tribunal decisions is limited by s 150 of the QCAT Act.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that an obvious administrative error in a tribunal order can be corrected without converting that error into an appealable determination. Parties should identify the operative decision and the statutory source of appellate jurisdiction before seeking review in the Court of Appeal.