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March 2009
Section 32 of the Nurses and Midwives Act provides for applicants for registration, authorisation or enrolment to lodge appeals with the Nurses and Midwives Tribunal.
The Nurses and Midwives Tribunal may award costs against a party appearing before it. In defending appeals, the Board engages the services of solicitors and barristers. Costs for defending appeals have, in the past, been in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Appellants may not only be refused registration, authorisation or enrolment, but may be required to pay a bill for costs, both their own and the Board's. Prior to lodging appeals, intending appellants are advised to seek legal advice, including estimates for their own costs and liability to pay the Board's costs if so decided by the Tribunal.
Applications to the Board are generally dealt with confidentially. In contrast, proceedings before the Tribunal are usually open to the public, unless the Tribunal orders otherwise, and Tribunal decisions are published on the Australasian Legal Information Institute website including names and other relevant personal details. This ensures that appeal processes are transparent to the community but also means that personal information may be made public in the appeal process. The Tribunal is also able to summons people to give evidence or produce documents so that the Tribunal may receive and consider information that was not before the Board when its decision was made.
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