Australia, Aug. 21 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 21:

1. These reasons determine an application (the application) made by the applicant filed on 22 April 2025 to amend his complaint in which he alleges various kinds of discriminatory conduct were engaged in by the respondent whilst he was a tutor at the university. The continuation of the final hearing of the matter has been set down for 8, 9 and 10 September 2025. There was a directions' hearing in relation to the matter on 30 June 2025 at which the parties addressed, to some degree, the matters raised in the application. The application is supported by affidavits of the applicant sworn on 19 March 2025 and 10 April 2025. In other respects, the parties have addressed the issues that concern the application in written submissions and the matter was foreshadowed as one that, because of the impending final hearing, would be determined on the papers.

2. At the hearing on 30 June 2025 the applicant was given 7 days in which to file any further submissions on which of his proposed amendments constituted new claims and which were existing claims, however he did not file any further submissions until late on 18 July 2025, eleven days after the submissions were due. On a review of those submissions, which were 99 pages in length and which he referred to as "draft", it is apparent that the submissions go to all of the issues raised in the application and not just the issues on which he was given leave to make a submission. We have, nevertheless, considered those draft submissions.

Whether a hearing should be dispensed with

3. Sections 50(2) to (4) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (the CAT Act) provide:

(2) The Tribunal may make an order dispensing with a hearing if it is satisfied that the issues for determination can be adequately determined in the absence of the parties by considering any written submissions or any other documents or material lodged with or provided to the Tribunal.

(3) The Tribunal may not make an order dispensing with a hearing unless the Tribunal has first:

(a) afforded the parties an opportunity to make submissions about the proposed order, and

(b) taken any such submissions into account.

(4) The Tribunal may determine proceedings in which a hearing is not required based on the written submissions or any other documents or material that have been lodged with or provided to the Tribunal in accordance with the requirements of this Act, enabling legislation and the procedural rules.

4. In this case neither party opposed deciding the application on the papers.

5. In our view it is appropriate that a hearing be dispensed with under s 50(2) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 ('the CAT Act').

Principles governing the exercise of the power to amend a complaint

6. The Tribunal may exercise its discretion to amend a complaint in broad terms as set out in s 103 of the CAT Act. It provides:

103 Tribunal may amend complaint

(1) The Tribunal may, on the application of a party to a complaint or on its own motion, at any stage in proceedings relating to the complaint, amend the complaint.

(2) A complaint may be amended to include additional complaints and anything else that was not included in the complaint as investigated by the President.

(3) An amendment may be made subject to such conditions as the Tribunal thinks fit.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19816ea159661f6f021926e6)

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