1An application under s 80 of the VCAT Act to sever proceedings that share common facts and issues, filed without prior notice to the other parties and subsequently withdrawn, may constitute conduct that unnecessarily disadvantaged the respondents within s 109(3)(a), warranting a departure from the default rule that each party bears its own costs.
2Where a party withdraws an interlocutory application after the opposing party has incurred costs in responding, the Tribunal may fix costs thrown away at a sum less than actual costs incurred, having regard to the totality of the s 109(3) considerations.
3A settlement offer on costs that was open for acceptance for only 2 days did not comply with the minimum period required by s 114 of the VCAT Act and Rule 4.32(2), and therefore did not constitute an offer of settlement under the Act.
