Registry overview
The QCAT registry is led by Louise Logan, Principal Registrar. More than 100 staff work at the QCAT registry and all are based at 259 Queen Street Brisbane.
Staff within the registry work with QCAT members and other staff within Magistrates Courts registries across Queensland to deliver tribunal services.
The establishment of the registry
The establishment of QCAT on 1 December 2009 provided an opportunity to transform the delivery of registry services in Queensland.
A significant amount of work was undertaken to design a registry structure that would support the development of a cohesive organisation able to deliver high quality registry services to a large number of clients.
A number of the tribunals amalgamated into QCAT were supported by registries already co-located at 259 Queen Street. Prior to 1 December 2009 each registry operated independently from the others delivering a similar range of functions to support the work of the respective tribunals.
The design of a new registry structure for QCAT followed consultation with the staff of the existing registries and an analysis of the range of functions needed to be delivered by the new QCAT registry.
The design provided the opportunity to centralise a number of key registry functions to align the delivery of registry functions with the vision for QCAT of a tribunal that is accessible, fair, just, economical, informal and quick.
Those areas identified for centralisation included frontline client service activities, scheduling of hearings and providing hearing support activities, corporate support and alternative dispute resolution. The design also recognised the need for dedicated case management areas in the Human Rights and Civil, Administrative and Disciplinary Divisions.
Staff from the Consumer and Commercial Tribunal, Guardianship and Administration Tribunal, Children Services Tribunal, Anti-discrimination Tribunal, Retail Shop Leases Tribunal and the Small Claims Tribunal transitioned into the new QCAT registry on 1 December 2009.
This provided the QCAT registry with the enormous advantage of being staffed from the very beginning with people experienced in the delivery of tribunal and registry services and experts in the case management of the wide variety of jurisdictions amalgamated into QCAT. The scope of the change however required staff to learn new processes, functions and jurisdictions in a new larger organisational structure.
QCAT has been fortunate to have a registry team made up of dedicated, enthusiastic and professional staff who have risen to the challenge of implementing the new QCAT registry structure.
In the coming year we will consolidate the registry structure and continue to work to improve the services provided by the registry.
The QCAT registry structure
The QCAT registry structure comprises:
- Corporate Services - human resources, information technology, finance, communications and records management activities
- Client Services - frontline services to users of QCAT including enquiries, registration and processing of applications and case management of applications in the minor civil disputes jurisdiction
- Operations Support - scheduling of hearings and conducting hearing support activities
- Human Rights registry division for the case management of applications in the areas of guardianship and administration for adults with impaired capacity, applications relating to children and applications in the anti-discrimination jurisdiction
- Civil, Administrative and Disciplinary registry division for the case management of applications in the areas of civil applications (excluding the minor civil disputes jurisdiction), the general administrative review jurisdiction and the disciplinary jurisdictions
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) division - coordinating the delivery of ADR functions and performing ADR activities.
