The applicant's costs application was dismissed; each party was ordered to bear its own costs. The Tribunal reaffirmed the default position under s 109(1) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 that each party bears its own costs, and that departure requires the applicant to address the fairness factors in s 109(3). A party that fails to file submissions addressing those statutory factors, despite being directed to do so, will not discharge the burden of demonstrating that a costs order is fair. Characterising a claim as a 'simple debt' or asserting that the opposing party failed to settle is not, without more, a sufficient basis for a costs order, particularly where the underlying dispute involved contested evidence and the respondent's defence had arguable merit.
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