Yoon v Roads and Maritime Services [2013] NSWADT 293

Administrative Decisions Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Yoon v Roads and Maritime Services [2013] NSWADT 293 Hearing dates: 10 September 2013, 2 October 2013, 30 October 2013 Decision date: 20 December 2013 Jurisdiction: General Division Before: Leal S, Judicial Member Decision: The decision under review is affirmed Catchwords: Passenger Transport Act - wheelchair accessible taxi licence - cancellation - failure to give preference to wheelchair jobs Legislation Cited: Passenger Transport Act 1990, Passenger Transport Regulation 2007, Administrative Decisions Tribunal Act 1997. Cases Cited: Drake v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1979) 46 FLR 409. Category: Principal judgment Parties: Soo Min Yoon (Applicant) Roads and Maritime Services (Respondent) Representation: Smythe Wozniak (Respondent) File Number(s): 133201

reasons for decision

Introduction 1Since 2006, Mr Soo Min Yoon has been the operator of the Wheelchair Accessible Taxi ('WAT') licence number 105553 attached to taxi T5329. 2WAT licences are issued by the Director-General to address the shortage of taxi-services experienced by those in wheelchairs. The aim is to ensure that sufficient, properly equipped taxis are available to meet the needs of members of the community who are in wheelchairs. A specific radio network, the Zero 200 Network, has been established to deal with request for WAT taxi-services, and to manage the allocation of work to WAT licensed taxi-cabs. WAT licences are available at the significantly discounted price of $1000 for a period of 12 months. 3On 14 December 2012, the application for renewal of Mr Yoon's WAT licence was granted in relation to taxi T5329. 4A subsequent review revealed that taxi T5329 had failed to show preference to take hirings from persons confined to a wheelchair and therefore had not complied with the conditions of the licence. The review found that between 1 November 2012 and 29 February 2013, taxi T5329 had only performed 21 wheelchair jobs. 5On 28 March 2013, Mr Yoon was issued with a Notice to Show Cause as to why the licence should not be cancelled. He failed to respond to this notice and on 5 May 2013, his licence was cancelled. 6On 1 June 2013, Mr Yoon applied for an internal review to reconsider the decision to cancel his licence. In his application, Mr Yoon wrote: I was having health problem for last 7-8 months, however it is my fault that I didn't do wheelchair jobs. 7This decision was affirmed on 18 June 2013 following an internal review. The internal review found that: During the period of review records show that T5329 performed 21 WAT journeys. These figures are not considered to be adequate and not considered to be showing preference to persons confined to wheelchairs. Therefore, the delegate cannot be satisfied that Mr Yoon has complied with the licence conditions and performed wheelchair accessible work as a priority over other taxi work. As such and by application of s32G(1) of the Act, Mr Yoon's licence is cancelled. 8On 25 June 2013, the applicant filed an application for review of this decision and on 3 July 2013, Mr Yoon's application for a stay of the decision to cancel his WAT license was granted by this Tribunal.