The Commission dismissed a self-represented appellant's application to revoke leave granted to the Workers' Compensation Regulator for legal representation under s 552B of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld). The Commission confirmed that the discretion under s 552B is unconfined (unlike s 530 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016 which requires jurisdictional facts), and that one party being unrepresented is not a reason to deny the other party legal representation, particularly where the represented party is bound by Model Litigant Principles and the matter involves complex questions of fact and law. The Commission also noted that case authorities cited by the appellant could not be located, with a reference to Practice Direction 1 of 2024 and guidelines on responsible use of generative AI by non-lawyers.
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