Billabong Aboriginal Corporation v Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations [2007] FCA 1496

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Billabong Aboriginal Corporation v Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations [2007] FCA 1496 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – natural justice – rules of procedural fairness – disclosure requirements dependent on the circumstances of the particular case – requirement to disclose grounds on which the decision-maker proposes to rely – requirement to disclose adverse material even where the decision-maker disavows reliance – no requirement to disclose the decision-maker's entire file CORPORATIONS – Aboriginal corporations – notice to show cause why an administrator should not be appointed

Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 (Cth) ss 60, 71 Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) s 487-10 Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Consequential Transitional and Other Measures Act 2006 (Cth) sch 2, s 88 of sch 3 Bushell v Secretary of State for the Environment [1981] AC 75 referred to Claro v Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs (1993) 119 ALR 342 referred to Kioa v West (1985) 159 CLR 550 applied McLachlan v Australian Securities and Investment Commission (1999) 85 FCR 286 applied NIB Health Funds Ltd v Private Health Insurance Administration Council (2001) 115 FCR 561 considered Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Ex parte Miah (2001) 206 CLR 57 referred to Youssef v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1987) 14 ALD 550 considered

BILLABONG ABORIGINAL CORPORATION v REGISTRAR OF ABORIGINAL CORPORATIONS ACD 27 OF 2007

JACOBSON J

27 SEPTEMBER 2007

SYDNEY (HEARD IN CANBERRA) IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY ACD 27 OF 2007

BETWEEN: BILLABONG ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Applicant

AND: REGISTRAR OF ABORIGINAL CORPORATIONS

Respondent