Secretary to the Department of Justice and Regulation v L L F (a Pseudonym) & Anor

[2018] VSCA 155

Victorian Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Administrative Law
2. › Tribunals
3. › VCAT
4. › Jurisdiction dependent on prior conviction
5. › Whether tribunal findings inconsistent with convictions founding jurisdiction
6. › Distinction between impugning conviction and examining circumstances of offending
7. › Working with Children Act 2005 (Vic), ss 12, 26A
1. Administrative Law
2. › Statutory decision-making
3. › Working with children assessment
4. › Category A applications
5. › Whether giving assessment notice would pose unjustifiable risk to safety of children
6. › Public interest test
7. › Whether tribunal confined public interest consideration to single factor
8. › Working with Children Act 2005 (Vic), s 26A(3), (4), (5)
1. Criminal Law
2. › Complicity
3. › Aiding and abetting
4. › Whether conviction for rape as principal consistent with liability as aider and abettor
5. › Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), s 323

Quick Take

When VCAT's jurisdiction under s 26A of the Working with Children Act 2005 depends on a prior conviction, the Tribunal may examine the circumstances of the offending (including the applicant's specific role) without impugning the conviction, provided its findings are consistent with the essential factual basis of the conviction. A conviction for rape as a principal offender is consistent with liability as an aider and abettor under s 323 of the Crimes Act 1958. In assessing the public interest under s 26A(5), the Tribunal is not required to repeat all factors already considered under s 26A(3); reference to the decisive consideration suffices where the reasons read as a whole demonstrate engagement with all relevant circumstances.