About OIR

Considering lodging an appeal

• Obtain the application of the nominated officer from the Appeals Section within the Promotions and Selections Branch of the Workforce and Careers Directorate at NSW Police;
   
• Review your application with the advertised criteria and the nominated officer's application;
   
• If you consider that you are more entitled to the position on merit, think carefully about the grounds upon which you would base an appeal.

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If you decide to appeal

Complete the approved Notice of Appeal which is available from NSW Police, the Police Association or the Registry of the Tribunal. The notice of appeal may also be downloaded from the Registry Internet site.

Ensure that you provide the summary in accordance with Practice Note No. 1 issued by the Senior Chairperson of the Tribunal on 18 December 2001.

A copy of the summary should also be provided to the Promotions and Selections Branch at NSW Police in accordance with Practice Note No. 2 of the Senior Chairperson issued on 29 January 2002. This is to enable the nominated officer to receive the grounds of appeal and summary.

Appellants should note that failure to adequately address all relevant qualifications, competencies and responsibilities referable to the vacant office and/or omitting to provide sufficient particulars of such as referred to in Practice Note No. 1 may result in an appeal being dismissed. An appeal may be dismissed pursuant to s47(2)(b) of the GREAT Act on the basis that the appellant is not able to put forward an arguable case in favour of his or her appointment in accordance with Practice Note No.3 of the Senior Chairperson issued on 2 May 2003.

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Where appeals are lodged

The Notice of Appeal and summary must be lodged with the Registry at Level 2, 1 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. It may be lodged personally, by post or facsimile. The office hours of the Registry are 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, inclusive.

Time limit for lodging appeals

The appeal must be lodged within 21 days of the date that the notice of appointment appears on the bulletin board. It is essential that the appeal be lodged within this time, as the Tribunal has no power to extend this time limit. It should be noted that appeals can be lodged by facsimile transmission until 12.00 midnight on the closing date of the appeal period.

It is recommended that receipt of an appeal is confirmed with the Registry.

After an appeal has been lodged

When the time limit for lodging of appeals has expired, the Registry will allocate a hearing date for the appeal (generally 4 to 6 weeks after the closing date).

The appellant, NSW Police and the nominated officer will be issued with a notice advising of the date, time and place that the appeal is listed for hearing.

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Preparing for the appeal hearing

The Appellant and Nominated Officer

Should consider what additional material they wish to produce to the Tribunal and other parties. Remember that the Tribunal can only consider evidence up to & including the employers date of decision. This date is identified in the 'preferred applicant' letter from NSW Police.  Any evidence AFTER that date cannot be accepted.

The Tribunal will already have the documents submitted by NSW Police.

Any additional documents that the appellant or nominated officer wish to rely on should be lodged with the Registry and other parties no later than 5 calendar days prior to the hearing (for example if the appeal is listed for hearing on a Tuesday then the documents must be lodged no later than the Thursday prior to that). The Tribunal may not accept any documents presented after this time.

When lodging additional material it is recommended that original documents are not included.

NB: The Tribunal's Registrar requests that when compiling your hand-up, please refrain from laminating cover pages and use only cardboard/paper based products as inserts and dividers.

Persons entitled to be present at an appeal hearing

Promotion appeals are not open to the public. They are conducted as informal hearings, although the proceedings are sound recorded.

The hearing is conducted before a Chairperson of the Tribunal.

In addition to the appellant and nominated officer, the selection committee convenor or an appropriate person appointed by the employer may attend to provide further information to the Tribunal if required.

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Withdrawal of Appeals

An appeal may be withdrawn in writing at any time prior to the conclusion of the hearing. A withdrawal may be faxed to the Registry.

If an appellant decides to withdraw the appeal after the hearing has commenced, the Chairperson should be informed and the proceedings will be concluded.

Lapsing of an Appeal

There is provision in the GREAT Act that an appeal lapses if the position appealed against no longer exists or if the nominated officer can no longer take up the duties of the position.

If this occurs the Registry will forward a notice to the appellant along with a copy of the advice from NSW Police notifying that the appeal has lapsed under s47 of the GREAT Act.

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The appeal hearing

When you arrive at the Tribunal for the hearing inform Registry staff of your attendance.

The Registry staff will assist you if you have any questions prior to the hearing.

If you are wearing appointments the Registry will provide a key to a locker to secure your appointments.

At the commencement of the hearing the Chairperson will briefly outline the procedure to be followed.

Evidence of the appellant and the nominated officer will be given under oath.

The Chairperson will direct a general question to the nominated officer.

The appellant then speaks to his/her grounds of appeal. The Chairperson will then ask questions of him/her.

The nominated officer then has the opportunity to speak to the appellant's grounds of appeal or to any other matter that he/she considers relevant. The Chairperson will then ask questions of him/her.

The appellant is then given a right of reply in respect of any new matter raised in the nominated officer's submission.

When the right of reply has concluded the Chairperson will adjourn to consider the decision.

The parties MUST, before leaving the Tribunal's premises, return any documents received from another party in respect of the appeal, including any document prepared by NSW Police.

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Decision of the Tribunal

The Tribunal will only allow an appeal if the appellant can demonstrate that he/she possess more merit than the nominated officer. If the officers are equal, then an appeal will not succeed.

At the conclusion of the hearing the Chairperson will inform the parties of a time when they can contact the Registry by telephone to ascertain the result.

The GREAT Act requires the Tribunal to publish written reasons for the decision. The Registrar will forward the written reasons to the parties. This occurs approximately two weeks after the hearing date.

The decision of the Tribunal is final, subject only to a right of appeal to the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal on a question of law.

NB: An appeal to the Supreme Court must be made within 21 days after the date of the Tribunal's decision.

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Contact Details

GREAT

Level 2

1 Oxford Street

DARLINGHURST NSW 2010 

Telephone:   9020 4750

Facsimile:     9020 4790

Other Contacts

NSW Police

Appeals Section

Promotions & Selections Branch

PARRAMATTA NSW 2150 

Telephone:   8835 9221

Police Association of NSW

Telephone:   9265 6777

Website:      www.pansw.org.au