Ahamed v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd & Ors

[2023] VSCA 239

Victorian Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Discrimination
2. › Equal opportunity
3. › Provision of services
4. › Unfavourable treatment on basis of race
5. › Whether evidence established discrimination
6. › Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), s 44(1)(c)
1. Administrative Law
2. › Tribunals
3. › Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
4. › Appeal on question of law
5. › Whether error of fact raises question of law
6. › Whether finding open on the evidence
7. › Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (Vic), s 148
1. Administrative Law
2. › Procedural fairness
3. › Tribunal proceedings
4. › Self-represented litigant
5. › Whether disallowance of irrelevant cross-examination questions denied procedural fairness
6. › Whether self-imposed silence constitutes denial of opportunity to present case
7. › Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (Vic), s 98

Quick Take

A VCAT running sheet is only a guide to the formal conduct of a hearing and cannot be treated as prescriptive; its amendment does not give rise to a denial of procedural fairness. A self-represented litigant's voluntary refusal to participate in a hearing after the disallowance of irrelevant questions does not constitute a denial of procedural fairness. Disagreements with VCAT's factual findings do not raise questions of law amenable to appeal under s 148 of the VCAT Act unless the finding was simply not open on the evidence.