Reid-Frost v Commissioner of Police [2011] NSWIRComm 3

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Reid-Frost v Commissioner of Police [2011] NSWIRComm 3 Hearing dates: 18 November 2010 Decision date: 17 February 2011 Jurisdiction: Industrial Relations Commission Before: Walton VP and Kavanagh J at 1, Haylen J at 24 Decision: 1. Leave to appeal refused. 2. Appeal dismissed. Catchwords: APPEAL - application for leave to appeal - leave heard separately to merit - challenge by appellant not such, when evaluated, to attract leave - relevance of error in leave proceedings - significance of character or nature of issues raised - correction of error for proper administration of justice - inconsequential errors - absence of utility - limits to challenges based on findings of fact - procedural deficiencies - Commissioner's regard to response by appellant to notice - test not whether Commissioner may have reassessed in light of all relevant factors - question arises as to whether failure in reasons, in itself, or in conjunction with other factors warrants finding harsh, unjust or unreasonable - whether action available by the Commissioner under s 181D as opposed s 173 - requirement for judicial assessment of Commissioner's reasons - findings as to appellant's character available irrespective of medical evidence - practice and procedure re leave matters - leave to appeal refused: per Haylen J (dissenting) - suitability of case to be dealt with on question of leave and without full hearing - numerous issues of alleged conduct to be considered - Commissioner's case on integrity fails - medical evidence raises serious questions on appeal - many complaints found to be trivial while others not made out - arguable case that Jones v Dunkel principle not available against officer - nature of s 188(2) - leave available on other grounds. Legislation Cited: Police Act 1990 (NSW) Police Regulation 2000 Cases Cited: Allchin v Commissioner of Police (No 2) (2007) 168 IR 170 Bond v Director General of Education and Training [2010] NSWIRComm 178 Box Valley Pty Ltd v Price (2000) 97 IR 484 Burge v NSW BHP Steel Pty Ltd (2001) 105 IR 325 Commissioner of Police v Bradley Eade-Smith [2010] NSWIRComm 162 Commissioner of Police v Evans (2008) 153 CLR 144 Commissioner of Police v Reid Frost (2010) 92 IR 363 Davies v Kyogle Council [2008] NSWIRComm 90 Director General, NSW Department of Education and Training v Sud [2010] NSWIRComm 147 Dlugolecka v Todber Pty Ltd t/as Leisure Lea Gardens Retirement Village (2008) 174 IR 73 Hosemans v Commissioner of Police (No 4) (2005) 150 IR 263 Humphreys v Cootamundra Ex-Services and Citizen's Memorial Club (2003) 128 IR 37 Inspector Moore v Blacktown City Council [2003] NSWIRComm 47 Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 King v State Bank of New South Wales (No 2) (2002) 126 IR 407 Knowles v Anglican Church Property Trust (No 2) (1999) 95 IR 380 Lawrance v Commissioner of Police (No 1) 2010 NSWIRComm 149 Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales and Department of Industry and Investment [2010] NSWIRComm 121 Wei Fen Xian and Rail Corporation New South Wales [2010] NSWIRComm 46 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Alyson Reid-Frost (Appellant) Commissioner of Police (Respondent) Representation: Mr A A Hatcher SC with Mr D Nagle of counsel (Appellant) Mr M J Kimber SC with Mr A Searle of counsel (Respondent) W G McNally Jones Staff (Appellant) Bartier Perry (Respondent) File Number(s): IRC 659 of 2010