Tribunal's broad discretion on costs

Chaudhry v Medical Board of Australia [2015] QCAT 414

Key Points

• The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) (equivalent to the State Administrative Tribunal in Western Australia) has a broad discretion to make any order about costs it considers appropriate.
• There is no general rule that the successful party will be awarded costs unless special circumstances require departure from it.
• In the present case, the Medical Board of Australia's (the Board) failure to investigate the medical practitioner's conduct was a primary consideration in the Tribunal making an award of costs against it.

Background

Dr Muhammad Tahir Bashir Chaudhry is an immunologist and allergist. The Board imposed conditions on Dr Chaudhry's registration following notification that Dr Chaudhry had failed to check the 1,350 pathology reports in his holding file and that he thus placed patients in danger. Dr Chaudhry applied to the Tribunal to set aside the Medical