Unit Titles Regulations 2002

regulation 17

1. Panel of persons willing to act as Referee

(1) There is to be a panel of persons who are willing to act as Referee in a dispute.

(b) the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency administering the Unit Titles Act 1975.

(b) holds appropriate qualifications, or has relevant experience, as a conciliator or mediator.

2. Appointment of Referee

(1) The Referee in a dispute is to be a member of the panel referred to in clause 1:

(a) who agrees to be the Referee, subject to the terms and conditions referred to in subclause (2); and

(b) who the parties to the dispute agree should be the Referee or, if the parties cannot agree, who is appointed to be the Referee by the President of the Law Society Northern Territory or the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency administering the Unit Titles Act 1975 (whoever appointed the panel).

(2) The agreement of the Referee referred to in subclause (1)(a) is to set out the terms and conditions on which the Referee is willing to act in the dispute, including provisions for:

(b) the reimbursement of the reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the Referee; and

(c) the amount of the administrative fee payable to the Referee under clause 6(c).

3. Payment of fees etc.

(a) the fees and costs and expenses referred to in clause 2(2)(a) and (b) are payable in equal shares by the parties to the dispute; and

(b) the administrative fee referred to in clause 2(2)(c) is payable by the applicant in the dispute.

(2) If the Referee is appointed by the President of the Law Society Northern Territory or the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency administering the Unit Titles Act 1975, the parties to the dispute agree that a fee of $150 (or such other amount as is agreed with the Law Society or the Agency, as the case may be) is payable to the Law Society or the Agency, as the case may be, in equal shares by the parties to the dispute.

4. Grounds for application to Referee

(1) An application to the Referee may be made in relation to a dispute arising from:

a power, authority, duty or function conferred or imposed by or under Part IVC of the Unit Titles Act 1975, or by or under a disclosure statement, on a party to the dispute.

(2) This dispute resolution procedure is not to be used if the dispute arises under a law other than the Unit Titles Act 1975.

5. Who may apply to Referee?

Any of the following persons may apply to the Referee for the resolution of a dispute:

(d) the proprietor of a unit into which a building lot is further subdivided;

(e) a person who has a registered interest in a building lot or in a unit into which a building lot is further subdivided.

6. Form of application

An application to the Referee:

(iii) the reasons that the Referee's involvement in the dispute is sought; and

(iv) the outcome of the dispute that the applicant is seeking to obtain; and

(c) is to be accompanied by the administrative fee referred to in clause 2(2)(c).

7. Notice to other parties to dispute

(1) Within a reasonable time after receiving the application, the Referee must, by notice in writing:

(a) inform the persons who are named in the application as parties to the dispute that the application has been made;

(b) provide those parties with details of the outcome of the dispute that the applicant is seeking to obtain; and

(c) invite those parties to make written submissions about the dispute within a specified, reasonable time.

(2) The developer or another person, as directed by the Referee, must display a copy of the notice referred to in subclause (1) prominently on the property until:

whichever occurs first.

8. Amendment of application

(1) The applicant may amend the application by submitting amendments in writing to the Referee.

(a) must give written notice of the amendments to every person who was notified of the original application under clause 7; and

(b) in that notice, may extend the time for making written submissions about the dispute.

(3) The developer or another person, as directed by the Referee, must display a copy of the notice referred to in subclause (1) prominently on the property until the closing date for written submissions, including any extension of that date under subclause (2)(b).

(4) The applicant must pay any costs incurred by the Referee in giving notice of the amended application, or displaying a copy of the notice, in accordance with this clause.

9. Dismissal of application

The Referee may dismiss the application if:

(a) the application does not contain the information referred to in clause 6(b) and, after being given a reasonable time to do so, the applicant has not amended the application or provided that information;

(b) a dispute resolution procedure is specified in the disclosure statement;

(c) the application is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived or lacking in substance; or

(d) the rights or obligations sought to be exercised or imposed, or the outcome sought, are not rights or obligations or an outcome under the Unit Titles Act 1975 or are rights or obligations or an outcome under another Act.

10. Withdrawal of application

The applicant may withdraw the application at any time before a agreement between the parties to the dispute is reached or an order is made by the Referee.

11. Procedure to be adopted by Referee

(1) The Referee must proceed to attempt to resolve the dispute with as little formality and technicality as possible, and subject to the Unit Titles Act 1975 and the rules of natural justice, may determine his or her own procedures.

(2) The parties to the dispute agree to comply with any request made by the Referee, or a person acting on behalf of the Referee, for the purposes of resolving the dispute:

(a) to provide specified documents or other records, or specified information, to the Referee or person;

(b) to allow the Referee or person reasonable access to land, buildings, and common property;

12. Outcome of dispute

(1) The parties to the dispute agree:

(a) to be bound by any agreement reached by the parties to the dispute; or

(b) in the event that agreement cannot be reached – to be bound by the decision of the Referee.

(2) The parties to the dispute agree that, in the event that an agreement between the parties to the dispute cannot be reached, the Referee may make an order that will give effect to an outcome of the dispute specified in the application.

(a) requiring a party to the dispute to pay a specified amount of money;

(b) requiring a party to the dispute to do, or refrain from doing, some specified act; and

(c) requiring a party to the dispute to make or pursue an insurance claim.

13. Enforcement of Referee's order

(1) An order of the Referee under clause 12 may be enforced as if it were an order of the Tribunal.

(2) If an order of the Referee under clause 12 requires a document to be signed by a party to the dispute and lodged for registration, the order may be lodged instead of the signed document.

14. Application to Referee is pre-condition of legal proceedings

The parties to the dispute agree not to commence legal proceedings in connection with the dispute unless an application for the resolution of the dispute by a Referee has been made under clause 5 and the Referee has determined the application in accordance with these provisions.