Liao v St Vincent's Hospital Sydney Ltd [2013] NSWADT 119

Administrative Decisions Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Liao v St Vincent's Hospital Sydney Ltd [2013] NSWADT 119 Hearing dates: 23 April 2013 Decision date: 30 May 2013 Jurisdiction: Equal Opportunity Division Before: Magistrate N Hennessy, Deputy President Decision: Leave to proceed is refused Catchwords: LEAVE -complaint of discrimination against hospital declined by President of Anti-Discrimination Board - whether fair and just for complaint to go ahead - merits of the complaint are relevant - complaint lacks substance Legislation Cited: Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 Cases Cited: Jones v Ekermawi [2009] NSWCA 388 O'Callaghan v Loder [1983] 3 NSWLR 89 Hall v A & A Sheiban Pty Ltd (1989) 20 FCR 17 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Yuhong Liao (Applicant) St Vincent's Hospital Sydney Ltd (Respondent) Representation: Y Liao (Applicant in person) K Cvitkovic, Executive Officer, St Vincent's Hospital (Respondent) File Number(s): 131022

REASONS FOR DECISION 1Ms Liao has applied for permission for a complaint of race and disability discrimination to go ahead despite the fact that the President of the Anti-Discrimination Board declined the complaint: Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, 96. The Tribunal has a discretion to grant or not to grant leave for a complaint to proceed but in determining that question it should be guided by what is fair and just in the circumstances: Jones v Ekermawi [2009] NSWCA 388. I have decided to refuse to grant leave because Ms Liao's complaint lacks merit and is unlikely to succeed if it were to proceed.