Information that can't be accessed
Laws prohibit the publication of certain information. For example, information that identifies children and/or vulnerable people or information subject to a non-publication order may not be publicly accessible. This includes proceedings under the Child Protection Act 1999.
Relevant legislation
Section 229 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (the QCAT Act) provides for inspection of the QCAT register of proceedings.
Section 230 of the QCAT Act provides for inspection of the QCAT record of proceedings.
Section 66 of the QCAT Act provides for non-publication orders made under the QCAT Act.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Regulation 2009 outlines the prescribed fees payable for inspections and copies of the register and record of proceedings.
For a party to search or copy produced material, you need the permission of the tribunal (see rule 80 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2009).
Entity/business name
An entity includes, for example:
- a business
- a partnership
- a corporation
- a government body
- an organisations.
Party to the proceedings
A party is an individual, corporation or other entity that:
- has started a tribunal proceeding
- has had a tribunal proceeding started against them
- has later joined to a tribunal proceeding
- is an active party* (for certain guardianship/administration proceedings)
* Generally, an active party includes the adult who is the subject of the application, the applicant, any proposed guardian or administrator, a current guardian or administrator, the Public Guardian or Public Trustee and any other person joined to the proceeding.
File numbers
A file number may also be called a case number, for example MCDT001/15, MCDO001/15, BDL001/15, NDR001/15 or GAR001/15.
You may have a client number if the matter is about adult guardianship or administration, for example G00000.
Proceedings held before 1 December 2009
Proceedings that were held before December 2009 will relate to the previous tribunals that were amalgamated into QCAT.
Legislation
You will not need to pay a fee if the proceeding is under any of the following legislation, unless the adult subject of the proceeding is deceased:
- Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
- Disability Services Act 2006
- Powers of Attorney Act 1998.
Terms and conditions
Section 216 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 makes it an offence for a person to knowingly give the registry documents containing false or misleading information.
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.
Types of searches
Neighbourhood disputes (dividing fences and trees)
This search will be limited to proceedings that relate to disputes between neighbours,as proceedings commenced under the following Acts:
- Building Act 1975, Chapter 8, Part 2A (dividing fences that are also pool barriers)
- Neighbourhood Disputes (Dividing Fences and Trees) Act 2011
- Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009, Chapter 2, Part 1, Division 2 (minor civil disputes for debt or liquidated demand of money related to dividing fences or trees)
Retail shop leases
This will conduct a search of retail shop lease proceedings only, and you can request a search on the name or address.
There is no fee to search matters relating to retail shop leases.
All
This will conduct a search of all registers of proceedings.
Search examples
Entity/business name example
Bob Smith Pty Ltd trading as Bob Smith Tyres will be considered as 2 separate searches:
Search 1: Bob Smith Pty Ltd
Search 2: Bob Smith Tyres
Individual example
Bob & Lyndall Smith will be considered as 2 separate searches:
Search 1: Bob Smith
Search 2: Lyndall Smith