CIVIL PROCEDURE — urgent interlocutory relief — judicial review proceedings — interim mandatory injunction — relief in the nature of a stay sought in respect of decision made by regulatory authority — purported decision or decisions of regulatory authority made under Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 (NSW), Part 7 — whether regulatory authority made two separate decisions; one “combined” decision or one decision that was an “integral and essential element” of the other decision — power of a Court to grant a stay in respect of an administrative law decision that has already taken effect — whether prima facie case — relief refused
Quick Take
1A court will not grant a stay of an administrative decision that has already taken effect. Interlocutory injunctions restraining a regulator from acting on, giving effect to or communicating such a decision, or requiring it to treat the affected person as still holding a cancelled approval, are in substance relief in the nature of a stay or a de facto reinstatement, and are refused on the same basis.
2Under cl 33(4) of the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 (NSW), cancellation of a workplace rehabilitation provider's approval takes effect when written notice is served, not when the register under cl 31 is updated. There was a good prima facie case that SIRA had no power to grant a new transitional approval without an application under cl 22, but on the facts no prima facie case was shown that this transitional approval was an 'integral and essential element' of the cancellation decision. Separate documents, reasons that did not rely on the transitional approval, and 'next steps' framed as consequences of cancellation all pointed against severing the two decisions as one combined decision.
3In regulatory contexts involving public protection, the public interest and the strength of the regulator's case weigh significantly against interim relief. An available but uninvoked non-statutory internal review capable of addressing the grounds raised is also a discretionary factor favouring refusal.
